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diff --git a/old/61436-0.txt b/old/61436-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index e491533..0000000 --- a/old/61436-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,18039 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ancient legends, Mystic Charms & -Superstitions of Ireland, by Jane Francesca Agnes Wilde - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Ancient legends, Mystic Charms & Superstitions of Ireland - With sketches of the Irish past - -Author: Jane Francesca Agnes Wilde - -Release Date: February 18, 2020 [EBook #61436] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANCIENT LEGENDS, CHARMS, OF IRELAND *** - - - - -Produced by MWS, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from images made available by the HathiTrust -Digital Library.) - - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_. - - - - - ANCIENT LEGENDS OF IRELAND - - - - - Ancient Legends - Mystic Charms & Superstitions - of Ireland - - WITH SKETCHES OF THE IRISH PAST - - - BY - - LADY WILDE - - - A NEW EDITION - - - LONDON - CHATTO & WINDUS - 1919 - - - - - OPINIONS OF THE PRESS - ON - ANCIENT LEGENDS OF IRELAND. - - -‘A work to be welcomed as a valuable addition to the literature of -folk-lore and mythology; taken down, for the most part, from oral -communications with the peasantry.’—SCOTSMAN. - -‘Few nations have a folk-lore so rich and imaginative as that of the -Irish. Lady Wilde has studied it conscientiously, and is so well -acquainted with the origins of her subject, that the perusal of her -book is no less instructive than pleasing.’—MORNING POST. - -‘An important contribution to the literature of Ireland and the world’s -stock of folk-lore.’—EVENING MAIL. - -‘Lady Wilde’s book will be welcome either to the professed student of -Irish antiquity or to the more general reader who finds delight in -fascinating folk-tales delightfully recorded.’—WESTMINSTER REVIEW. - -‘Told with power as well as with simplicity ... a very interesting and -readable collection of folk-lore.’—GRAPHIC. - -‘Lady Wilde’s book is delightful.... Amongst those best acquainted with -Irish folk-lore, legends, and mysteries, we believe few will be found -capable of adding many words to pages which could only have been filled -by an Irish woman lovingly treating such a subject.’—VANITY FAIR. - -‘Those who care for legendary reading will find in this volume a source -of much enjoyment.’—NORTHERN WHIG. - -‘The myths and legends are all of deep interest and value.’—KNOWLEDGE. - - - COMPANION TO THE PRESENT VOLUME. - - - POPULAR ROMANCES OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND: - - or, The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall. - - Collected and Edited by ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S. - - With Illustrations by GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. - - - London: CHATTO & WINDUS, 97 & 99 St. Martin’s Lane, W.C. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - INTRODUCTION 1 - THE HORNED WOMEN 10 - THE LEGEND OF BALLYTOWTAS CASTLE 12 - A WOLF STORY 17 - THE EVIL EYE 20 - THE STOLEN BRIDE 27 - FAIRY MUSIC 29 - THE FAIRY DANCE 30 - FAIRY JUSTICE 32 - THE PRIEST’S SOUL 33 - THE FAIRY RACE 37 - THE TRIAL BY FIRE 39 - THE LADY WITCH 41 - ETHNA THE BRIDE 42 - THE FAIRIES’ REVENGE 46 - FAIRY HELP—THE PHOUKA 48 - THE FARMER PUNISHED 49 - THE FARMER’S WIFE 52 - THE MIDNIGHT RIDE 53 - THE LEPREHAUN 56 - THE LEGENDS OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS 59 - THE BRIDE’S DEATH-SONG 60 - THE CHILD’S DREAM 62 - THE FAIRY CHILD 64 - THE DOOM 67 - THE CLEARING FROM GUILT 69 - THE HOLY WELL AND THE MURDERER 70 - LEGENDS OF INNIS-SARK—A WOMAN’S CURSE 71 - LEGENDS OF THE DEAD IN THE WESTERN ISLANDS 75 - The Death Sign 75 - Kathleen 76 - November Eve 78 - The Dance of the Dead 80 - SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING THE DEAD 81 - THE FATAL LOVE-CHARM 83 - THE FENIAN KNIGHTS 84 - RATHLIN ISLAND 86 - THE STRANGE GUESTS 86 - THE DEAD SOLDIER 87 - THE THREE GIFTS 88 - THE FAIRIES AS FALLEN ANGELS 89 - THE FAIRY CHANGELING 89 - FAIRY WILES 91 - SHAUN-MOR 91 - - THE CAVE FAIRIES— - The Tuatha-de-Danann 93 - Edain the Queen 94 - The Royal Steed 96 - - EVIL SPELLS— - Cathal the King 97 - The Poet’s Malediction 99 - Drimial Agus Thorial 100 - AN IRISH ADEPT OF THE ISLANDS 100 - THE MAY FESTIVAL 101 - MAY-DAY SUPERSTITIONS 106 - - FESTIVALS— - Candlemas 107 - Whitsuntide 108 - Whitsuntide Legend of the Fairy Horses 108 - NOVEMBER SPELLS 109 - NOVEMBER EVE 110 - A TERRIBLE REVENGE 112 - - MIDSUMMER— - The Baal Fires and Dances 113 - The Fairy Doctress 114 - MARRIAGE RITES 115 - THE DEAD 117 - THE WAKE ORGIES 119 - THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES 123 - THE POWER OF THE WORD 129 - THE POET AND THE KING 130 - THE SIDHE RACE 132 - MUSIC 133 - POET INSPIRATION—EODAIN THE POETESS 134 - THE BANSHEE 135 - QUEEN MAEVE 137 - DEATH SIGNS 138 - The Hartpole Doom 139 - SUPERSTITIONS 140 - THE FAIRY RATH 142 - FAIRY NATURE 142 - IRISH NATURE 144 - - LEGENDS OF ANIMALS. - - CONCERNING DOGS 146 - CONCERNING CATS 151 - The King of the Cats 153 - The Demon Cat 154 - Cat Nature 156 - SEANCHAN THE BARD AND THE KING OF THE CATS 159 - THE BARDS 163 - KING ARTHUR AND THE CAT 166 - CONCERNING COWS 168 - Fairy Wiles 170 - THE DEAD HAND 172 - THE WICKED WIDOW 173 - THE BUTTER MYSTERY 175 - - CONCERNING BIRDS— - The Magpie 177 - The Wren 177 - The Raven and Water Wagtail 177 - The Cuckoo and Robin Redbreast 177 - - CONCERNING LIVING CREATURES— - The Cricket 178 - The Beetle 178 - The Hare 179 - The Weasel 179 - - - THE PROPERTIES OF HERBS AND THEIR USE IN MEDICINE 181 - A Love Potion 185 - Love Dreams 185 - To Cause Love 185 - - MEDICAL SUPERSTITIONS AND ANCIENT CHARMS 186 - Against Sorrow 188 - To Win Love 189 - For the Night Fire (the Fever) 189 - For a Pain in the Side 189 - For the Measles 190 - For the Mad Fever 190 - Against Enemies 190 - To Extract a Thorn 190 - To Cause Hatred between Lovers 191 - For Love 191 - How to have Money Always 191 - For the Great Worm 191 - For Sore Eyes 191 - For Pains in the Body 192 - Against Drowning 192 - In Time of Battle 192 - For the Red Rash 193 - To Tame a Horse 193 - A very Ancient Charm against Wounds or Poisons 193 - For a Sore Breast 193 - For a Wound 194 - For the Evil Eye 194 - For St. Anthony’s Fire 194 - How to go Invisible 194 - For Pains 194 - For a Sprain 195 - To Cause Love 195 - For the Bite of a Mad Dog 195 - For Toothache 196 - For Freckles 196 - For a Burn 197 - For the Memory 197 - For the Falling Sickness 197 - For Chin-Cough 197 - For Rheumatism 198 - For a Stye on the Eyelid 198 - To Cure Warts 198 - For a Stitch in the Side 198 - For Weak Eyes 198 - For Water on the Brain 199 - For Hip Disease 199 - For the Mumps 199 - For Epilepsy 199 - For Depression of Heart 200 - For the Fairy Dart 200 - - VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS AND CURES 200 - To find Stolen Goods 207 - A Prayer against the Plague 207 - A Blessing 207 - A Cure for Cattle 207 - A Charm for Safety 208 - An Elixir of Potency 208 - For the Bite of a Mad Dog 208 - Dreams 208 - Fairy Doctors 209 - Charms by Crystals 209 - Alectromantia 210 - Fairy Power 210 - - OMENS AND SUPERSTITIONS 211 - That Forbode Evil 211 - To Attract Bees 213 - - SUPERSTITIONS OF THE ISLANDS— - Concerning the Dead 213 - The Coastguard’s Fate 214 - Relics 214 - - LEGENDS OF THE SAINTS. - - ST. PATRICK 215 - The Well of the Book 216 - St. Patrick and the Serpent 216 - St. Patrick and the Princesses 217 - The Poison Cup 217 - Divination 217 - The Blind Poet 218 - The Story of Breccan 218 - Bardic Privileges 219 - ST. CIARON 220 - ST. MARTIN 220 - ST. BRIDGET 222 - ST. KIERAN 223 - ST. KEVIN 223 - CHRISTIAN LEGENDS 224 - - SWEARING STONES AND RELICS— - The Cremave 225 - Relics for clearing from Guilt 226 - Innis-Murry 227 - - MYSTERIES OF FAIRY POWER. - - THE EVIL STROKE 228 - THE CHANGELING 229 - THE FAIRY DOCTOR 231 - THE POET’S SPELL 233 - CHARM FOR THE FAIRY STROKE 233 - THE FARMER’S FATE 234 - THE FAIRY RATH 235 - - THE HOLY WELLS. - - THE HOLY WELLS 236 - The White Stones 237 - The Sacred Trout 237 - ST. AUGUSTINE’S WELL 238 - THE GRILLED TROUT 238 - LEGEND OF NEAL-MOR 239 - ST. JOHN’S WELL 240 - THE WELL OF FIONN MA-COUL 240 - ST. SEENAN’S WELL 241 - KID-NA-GREINA 241 - THE WELL OF WORSHIP 243 - THE BRIDE’S WELL 243 - THE IRISH FAKIR 244 - SACRED TREES 246 - TOBER-NA-DARA 247 - LOUGH NEAGH 247 - THE DOCTOR AND THE FAIRY PRINCESS 248 - A HOLY WELL 250 - A SACRED ISLAND 251 - THE LAKE OF REVENGE 251 - SCENES AT A HOLY WELL 252 - LOUGH FOYLE 252 - THE HEN’S CASTLE 253 - SLIABH-MISH, COUNTY KERRY 254 - THE SKELLIGS OF KERRY 254 - - POPULAR NOTIONS CONCERNING THE SIDHE RACE. - - THE SIDHE RACE 256 - THE HURLING MATCH 259 - THE RIDE WITH THE FAIRIES 260 - THE FAIRY SPY 263 - THE DARK HORSEMAN 264 - SHEELA-NA-SKEAN 267 - CAPTAIN WEBB, THE ROBBER CHIEF 270 - THE MAYO CAPTAIN AND FEENISH THE MARE 271 - - SKETCHES OF THE IRISH PAST. - - THE BARDIC RACE 274 - THE ANCIENT RACE 276 - THE ANTIQUITIES OF IRELAND 278 - EARLY IRISH ART 287 - OUR ANCIENT CAPITAL 295 - - SIR WILLIAM WILDE ON “THE ANCIENT RACES OF IRELAND” 329 - - - - -PREFACE. - - -The three great sources of knowledge respecting the shrouded part of -humanity are the language, the mythology, and the ancient monuments of -a country. - -From the language one learns the mental and social height to which -a nation had reached at any given period in arts, habits, and -civilization, with the relation of man to man, and to the material and -visible world. - -The mythology of a people reveals their relation to a spiritual and -invisible world; while the early monuments are solemn and eternal -symbols of religious faith—rituals of stone in cromlech, pillar, shrine -and tower, temples and tombs. - -The written word, or literature, comes last, the fullest and highest -expression of the intellect and culture, and scientific progress of a -nation. - -The Irish race were never much indebted to the written word. The -learned class, the ollamhs, dwelt apart and kept their knowledge -sacred. The people therefore lived entirely upon the traditions -of their forefathers, blended with the new doctrines taught by -Christianity; so that the popular belief became, in time, an amalgam of -the pagan myths and the Christian legend, and these two elements remain -indissolubly united to this day. The world, in fact, is a volume, a -serial rather, going on for six thousand years, but of which the Irish -peasant has scarcely yet turned the first page. - -The present work deals only with the mythology, or the fantastic creed -of the Irish respecting the invisible world—strange and mystical -superstitions, brought thousands of years ago from their Aryan home, -but which still, even in the present time, affect all the modes of -thinking and acting in the daily life of the people. - -Amongst the educated classes in all nations, the belief in the -supernatural, acting directly on life and constantly interfering with -the natural course of human action, is soon dissipated and gradually -disappears, for the knowledge of natural laws solves many mysteries -that were once inexplicable; yet much remains unsolved, even to the -philosopher, of the mystic relation between the material and the -spiritual world. Whilst to the masses—the uneducated—who know nothing -of the fixed eternal laws of nature, every phenomenon seems to result -from the direct action of some nonhuman power, invisible though ever -present; able to confer all benefits, yet implacable if offended, and -therefore to be propitiated. - -The superstition, then, of the Irish peasant is the instinctive belief -in the existence of certain unseen agencies that influence all human -life; and with the highly sensitive organization of their race, it is -not wonderful that the people live habitually under the shadow and -dread of invisible powers which, whether working for good or evil, are -awful and mysterious to the uncultured mind that sees only the strange -results produced by certain forces, but knows nothing of approximate -causes. - -Many of the Irish legends, superstitions, and ancient charms now -collected were obtained chiefly from oral communications made by the -peasantry themselves, either in Irish or in the Irish-English which -preserves so much of the expressive idiom of the antique tongue. - -These narrations were taken down by competent persons skilled in both -languages, and as far as possible in the very words of the narrator; so -that much of the primitive simplicity of the style has been retained, -while the legends have a peculiar and special value as coming direct -from the national heart. - -In a few years such a collection would be impossible, for the old race -is rapidly passing away to other lands, and in the vast working-world -of America, with all the new influences of light and progress, the -young generation, though still loving the land of their fathers, will -scarcely find leisure to dream over the fairy-haunted hills and lakes -and raths of ancient Ireland. - -I must disclaim, however, all desire to be considered a melancholy -_Laudatrix temporis acti_. These studies of the Irish past are simply -the expression of my love for the beautiful island that gave me my -first inspiration, my quickest intellectual impulses, and the strongest -and best sympathies with genius and country possible to a woman’s -nature. - - FRANCESCA SPERANZA WILDE. - - - - - ANCIENT LEGENDS. - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -The ancient legends of all nations of the world, on which from age -to age the generations of man have been nurtured, bear so striking a -resemblance to each other that we are led to believe there was once a -period when the whole human family was of one creed and one language. -But with increasing numbers came the necessity of dispersion; and that -ceaseless migration was commenced of the tribes of the earth from the -Eastern cradle of their race which has now continued for thousands of -years with undiminished activity. - -From the beautiful Eden-land at the head of the Persian Gulf, where -creeds and culture rose to life, the first migrations emanated, and -were naturally directed along the line of the great rivers, by the -Euphrates and the Tigris and southward by the Nile; and there the first -mighty cities of the world were built, and the first mighty kingdoms of -the East began to send out colonies to take possession of the unknown -silent world around them. From Persia, Assyria, and Egypt, to Greece -and the Isles of the Sea, went forth the wandering tribes, carrying -with them, as signs of their origin, broken fragments of the primal -creed, and broken idioms of the primal tongue—those early pages in the -history of the human race, eternal and indestructible, which hundreds -of centuries have not been able to obliterate from the mind of man. - -But as the early tribes diverged from the central parent stock, -the creed and the language began to assume new forms, according as -new habits of life and modes of thought were developed amongst the -wandering people, by the influence of climate and the contemplation -of new and striking natural phenomena in the lands where they found a -resting-place or a home. Still, amongst all nations a basis remained -of the primal creed and language, easily to be traced through all the -mutations caused by circumstances in human thought, either by higher -culture or by the debasement to which both language and symbols are -subjected amongst rude and illiterate tribes. - -To reconstruct the primal creed and language of humanity from these -scattered and broken fragments, is the task which is now exciting so -keenly the energies of the ardent and learned ethnographers of Europe; -as yet, indeed, with but small success as regards language, for not -more, perhaps, than twenty words which the philologists consider may -have belonged to the original tongue have been discovered; that is, -certain objects or ideas are found represented in all languages by the -same words, and therefore the philologist concludes that these words -must have been associated with the ideas from the earliest dawn of -language; and as the words express chiefly the relations of the human -family to each other, they remained fixed in the minds of the wandering -tribes, untouched and unchanged by all the diversities of their -subsequent experience of life. - -Meanwhile, in Europe there is diligent study of the ancient myths, -legends, and traditions of the world, in order to extract from them -that information respecting the early modes of thought prevalent -amongst the primitive race, and also the lines of the first migrations, -which no other monuments of antiquity are so well able to give. -Traditions, like rays of light, take their colour from the medium -through which they pass; but the scientific mythographic student -knows how to eliminate the accidental addition from the true primal -basis, which remains fixed and unchangeable; and from the numerous -myths and legends of the nations of the earth, which bear so striking -a conformity to each other that they point to a common origin, he -will be able to reconstruct the first articles of belief in the creed -of humanity, and to pronounce almost with certainty upon the primal -source of the lines of human life that now traverse the globe in all -directions. This source of all life, creed, and culture now on earth, -there is no reason to doubt, will be found in _Iran_, or Persia as we -call it, and in the ancient legends and language of the great Iranian -people, the head and noblest type of the Aryan races. Endowed with -splendid physical beauty, noble intellect, and a rich musical language, -the Iranians had also a lofty sense of the relation between man and -the spiritual world. They admitted no idols into their temples; their -God was the One Supreme Creator and Upholder of all things, whose -symbol was the sun and the pure, elemental fire. But as the world grew -older and more wicked the pure primal doctrines were obscured by human -fancies, the symbol came to be worshipped in place of the God, and the -debased idolatries of Babylon, Assyria, and the Canaanite nations were -the result. Egypt—grave, wise, learned, mournful Egypt—retained most -of the primal truth; but truth was held by the priests as too precious -for the crowd, and so they preserved it carefully for themselves and -their own caste. They alone knew the ancient and cryptic meaning of the -symbols; the people were allowed only to see the outward and visible -sign. - -From Egypt, philosophy, culture, art, and religion came to Greece, but -the Greeks moulded these splendid elements after their own fashion, and -poured the radiance of beauty over the grave and gloomy mysticism of -Egypt. Everything hideous, terrible, and revolting was banished from -the Greek Mythology. The Greeks constructed no theory of a devil, and -believed in no hell, as a distinct and eternal abode for the lost souls -of men. The Greek gods were divinely beautiful, and each divinity in -turn was ready to help the mortal that invoked him. The dead in Hades -mourned their fate because they could no longer enjoy the glorious -beauty of life, but no hard and chilling dogmas doomed them there to -the tortures of eternal punishment. Earth, air, the heavens and the -sea, the storms and sunshine, the forests and flowers and the purple -grapes with which they crowned a god, were all to the Greek poet-mind -the manifestations of an all-pervading spiritual power and life. A -sublime Pantheism was their creed, that sees gods in everything, yet -with one Supreme God over all. Freedom, beauty, art, light, and joy, -were the elements of the Greek religion, while the Eternal Wisdom, the -Great Athené of the Parthenon, was the peculiar and selected divinity -of their own half divine race. - -Meanwhile other branches of the primal Iranian stock were spreading -over the savage central forests of Europe, where they laid the -foundation of the great Teuton and Gothic races, the destined -world-rulers; but Nature to them was a gloomy and awful mother, -and life seemed an endless warfare against the fierce and powerful -elemental demons of frost and snow and darkness, by whom the beautiful -Sun-god was slain, and who reigned triumphant in that fearful season -when the earth was iron and the air was ice, and no beneficent God -seemed near to help. Hideous idols imaged these unseen powers, who were -propitiated by sanguinary rites; and the men and the god they fashioned -were alike as fierce and cruel as the wild beasts of the forest, and -the aspects of the savage nature around them. - -Still the waves of human life kept rolling westward until they surged -over all the lands and islands of the Great Sea, and the wandering -mariners, seeking new homes, passed through the Pillars of Hercules out -into the Western Ocean, and coasting along by the shores of Spain and -France, founded nations that still bear the impress of their Eastern -origin, and are known in history as the Celtic race; while the customs, -usages, and traditions which their forefathers had learnt in Egypt or -Greece were carefully preserved by them, and transmitted as heirlooms -to the colonies they founded. From Spain the early mariners easily -reached the verdant island of the West in which we Irish are more -particularly interested. And here in our beautiful Ireland the last -wave of the great Iranian migration finally settled. Further progress -was impossible—the unknown ocean seemed to them the limits of the -world. And thus the wanderers of the primal race, with their fragments -of the ancient creed and mythic poet-lore, and their peculiar dialect -of the ancient tongue, formed, as it were, a sediment here which still -retains its peculiar affinity with the parent land—though the changes -and chances of three thousand years have swept over the people, the -legends, and the language. It is, therefore, in Ireland, above all, -that the nature and origin of the primitive races of Europe should be -studied. Even the form of the Celtic head shows a decided conformity to -that of the Greek races, while it differs essentially from the Saxon -and Gothic types. This is one of the many proofs in support of the -theory that the Celtic people in their westward course to the Atlantic -travelled by the coasts of the Mediterranean, as all along that line -the same cranial formation is found. Philologists also affirm that the -Irish language is nearer to Sanskrit than any other of the living and -spoken languages of Europe; while the legends and myths of Ireland can -be readily traced to the far East, but have nothing in common with the -fierce and weird superstitions of Northern mythology. - -This study of legendary lore, as a foundation for the history of -humanity, is now recognized as such an important branch of ethnology -that a journal entirely devoted to comparative mythology has been -recently started in Paris, to which all nations are invited to -contribute—Sclaves, Teutons, and Celts, Irish legends being considered -specially important, as containing more of the primitive elements -than those of other Western nations. All other countries have been -repeatedly overwhelmed by alien tribes and peoples and races, but -the Irish have remained unchanged, and in place of adopting readily -the usages of invaders they have shown such remarkable powers of -fascination that the invaders themselves became _Hibernicis ipsis -Hiberniores_. The Danes held the east coast of Ireland for three -hundred years, yet there is no trace of Thor or Odin or the Frost -Giants, or of the Great World-serpent in Irish legend; but if we go -back in the history of the world to the beginning of things, when -the Iranian people were the only teachers of humanity, we come upon -the true ancient source of Irish legend, and find that the original -materials have been but very slightly altered, while amongst other -nations the ground-work has been overlaid with a dense palimpsest of -their own devising, suggested by their peculiar local surroundings. - -Amongst the earliest religious symbols of the world are the Tree, -the Woman, and the Serpent—memories, no doubt, of the legend of -Paradise; and the reverence for certain sacred trees has prevailed in -Persia from the most ancient times, and become diffused among all the -Iranian nations. It was the custom in Iran to hang costly garments -on the branches as votive offerings; and it is recorded that Xerxes -before going to battle invoked victory by the Sacred Tree, and hung -jewels and rich robes on the boughs. And the poet Saadi narrates an -anecdote concerning trees which has the true Oriental touch of mournful -suggestion:—He was once, he says, the guest of a very rich old man who -had a son remarkable for his beauty. One night the old man said to -him, “During my whole life I never had but this son. Near this place -is a Sacred Tree to which men resort to offer up their petitions. Many -nights at the foot of this tree I besought God until He bestowed on me -this son.” Not long after Saadi overheard this young man say in a low -voice to his friend, “How happy should I be to know where that Sacred -Tree grows, in order that I might implore God for the death of my -father.” - -The poorer class in Persia, not being able to make offerings of costly -garments, are in the habit of tying bits of coloured stuffs on the -boughs, and these rags are considered to have a special virtue in -curing diseases. The trees are often near a well or by a saint’s grave, -and are then looked upon as peculiarly sacred. - -This account might have been written for Ireland, for the belief and -the ceremonial are precisely similar, and are still found existing to -this day both in _Iran_ and in _Erin_. But all trees were not held -sacred—only those that bore no eatable fruit that could nourish men; -a lingering memory of the tree of evil fruit may have caused this -prejudice, while the Tree of Life was eagerly sought for, with its -promised gift of immortality. In Persia the plane-tree was specially -reverenced; in Egypt, the palm; in Greece, the wild olive; and the oak -amongst the Celtic nations. Sometimes small tapers were lit amongst the -branches, to simulate by fire the presence of divinity. It is worthy of -note, while on the subject of Irish and Iranian affinities, that the -old Persian word for tree is _dar_, and the Irish call their sacred -tree, the oak, _darragh_.[1] - - [1] The terms Dryad and Druid may be compared as containing the same - root and reference. - -The belief in a race of supernatural beings, midway between man and the -Supreme God, beautiful and beneficent, a race that had never known the -weight of human life, was also part of the creed of the Iranian people. -They called them _Peris_, or _Feroüers_ (fairies); and they have some -pretty legends concerning the beautiful _Dukhtari Shah Periân_, the -“Daughter of the King of the Fairies,” for a sight of whose beauty -men pine away in vain desire, but if it is granted to them once to -behold her, they die. Every nation believes in the existence of these -mysterious spirits, with mystic and powerful influence over human life -and actions, but each nation represents them differently, according to -national habits and national surroundings. Thus, the Russians believe -in the phantom of the Ukraine, a beautiful young girl robed in white, -who meets the wanderer on the lonely snow steppes, and lulls him by -her kisses into that fatal sleep from which he never more awakens. The -legends of the Scandinavians, also, are all set in the framework of -their own experiences; the rending and crash of the ice is the stroke -of the god Thor’s hammer; the rime is the beard of the Frost Giant; -and when Balder, their Sun-god, is beginning to die at Midsummer, they -kindle pine-branches to light him on his downward path to hell; and -when he is returning to the upper world, after the winter solstice, -they burn the Yule-log, and hang lights on the fir-trees to illuminate -his upward path. These traditions are a remnant of the ancient sun -worship, but the peasants who kindle the Baal fires at Midsummer, and -the upper classes who light up the brilliant Christmas-tree, have -forgotten the origin of the custom, though the world-old symbol and -usage is preserved. - -The _Sidhe_, or Fairies, of Ireland, still preserve all the gentle -attributes of their ancient Persian race, for in the soft and equable -climate of Erin there were no terrible manifestations of nature to be -symbolized by new images; and the genial, laughter-loving elves were in -themselves the best and truest expression of Irish nature that could -have been invented. The fairies loved music and dancing and frolic; -and, above all things, to be let alone, and not to be interfered with -as regarded their peculiar fairy habits, customs, and pastimes. They -had also, like the Irish, a fine sense of the right and just, and a -warm love for the liberal hand and kindly word. All the solitudes of -the island were peopled by these bright, happy, beautiful beings, -and to the Irish nature, with its need of the spiritual, its love -of the vague, mystic, dreamy, and supernatural, there was something -irresistibly fascinating in the belief that gentle spirits were around, -filled with sympathy for the mortal who suffered wrong or needed help. -But the fairies were sometimes wilful and capricious as children, and -took dire revenge if any one built over their fairy circles, or looked -at them when combing their long yellow hair in the sunshine, or dancing -in the woods, or floating on the lakes. Death was the penalty to all -who approached too near, or pried too curiously into the mysteries of -nature. - -To the Irish peasant earth and air were filled with these mysterious -beings, half-loved, half-feared by them; and therefore they were -propitiated by flattery, and called “the good people,” as the Greeks -call the dread goddesses “the Eumenides.” Their voices were heard -in the mountain echo, and their forms seen in the purple and golden -mountain mist; they whispered amidst the perfumed hawthorn branches; -the rush of the autumn leaves was the scamper of little elves—red, -yellow, and brown—wind-delven, and dancing in their glee; and the -bending of the waving barley was caused by the flight of the Elf King -and his Court across the fields. They danced with soundless feet, -and their step was so light that the drops of dew they danced on -only trembled, but did not break. The fairy music was low and sweet, -“blinding sweet,” like that of the great god Pan by the river; they -lived only on the nectar in the cups of the flowers, though in their -fairy palaces sumptuous banquets were offered to the mortals they -carried off—but woe to the mortal who tasted of fairy food; to eat was -fatal. All the evil in the world has come by eating; if Eve had only -resisted that apple our race might still be in Paradise. The Sidhe look -with envy on the beautiful young human children, and steal them when -they can; and the children of a Sidhe and a mortal mother are reputed -to grow up strong and powerful, but with evil and dangerous natures. -There is also a belief that every seven years the fairies are obliged -to deliver up a victim to the Evil One, and to save their own people -they try to abduct some beautiful young mortal girl, and her they hand -over to the Prince of Darkness. - -Dogmatic religion and science have long since killed the mythopoetic -faculty in cultured Europe. It only exists now, naturally and -instinctively, in children, poets, and the childlike races, like the -Irish—simple, joyous, reverent, and unlettered, and who have remained -unchanged for centuries, walled round by their language from the rest -of Europe, through which separating veil science, culture, and the cold -mockery of the sceptic have never yet penetrated. - -Christianity was readily accepted by the Irish. The pathetic tale -of the beautiful young Virgin-Mother and the Child-God, for central -objects, touched all the deepest chords of feeling in the tender, -loving, and sympathetic Irish heart. The legends of ancient times were -not overthrown by it, however, but taken up and incorporated with the -new Christian faith. The holy wells and the sacred trees remained, -and were even made holier by association with a saint’s name. And to -this day the old mythology holds its ground with a force and vitality -untouched by any symptoms of weakness or decay. The Greeks, who are -of the same original race as our people, rose through the influence -of the highest culture to the fulness and perfectness of eternal -youth; but the Irish, without culture, are eternal children, with all -the childlike instincts of superstition still strong in them, and -capable of believing all things, because to doubt requires knowledge. -They never, like the Greeks, attained to the conception of a race -of beings nobler than themselves—men stronger and more gifted, with -the immortal fire of a god in their veins; women divinely beautiful, -or divinely inspired; but, also, the Irish never defaced the image -of God in their hearts by infidelity or irreligion. One of the most -beautiful and sublimely touching records in all human history is that -of the unswerving devotion of the Irish people to their ancient faith, -through persecutions and penal enactments more insulting and degrading -than were ever inflicted in any other land by one Christian sect upon -another. - -With this peculiarly reverential nature it would be impossible to -make the Irish a nation of sceptics, even if a whole legion of German -Rationalists came amongst them to preach a crusade against all belief -in the spiritual and the unseen. And the old traditions of their race -have likewise taken firm hold in their hearts, because they are an -artistic people, and require objects for their adoration and love, not -mere abstractions to be accepted by their reason. And they are also a -nation of poets; the presence of God is ever near them, and the saints -and angels, and the shadowy beings of earth and air are perpetually -drawing their minds, through mingled love and fear, to the infinite -and invisible world. Probably not one tradition or custom that had -its origin in a religious belief has been lost in Ireland during the -long course of ages since the first people from Eastern lands arrived -and settled on our shores. The Baal fires are still lit at Midsummer, -though no longer in honour of the sun, but of St. John; and the -peasants still make their cattle pass between two fires—not, indeed, -as of old, in the name of Moloch, but of some patron saint. That all -Irish legends point to the East for their origin, not to the North, -is certain; to a warm land, not one of icebergs, and thunder crashes -of the rending of ice-bound rivers, but to a region where the shadow -of trees, and a cool draught from the sparkling well were life-giving -blessings. Well-worship could not have originated in a humid country -like Ireland, where wells can be found at every step, and sky and land -are ever heavy and saturated with moisture. It must have come from -an Eastern people, wanderers in a dry and thirsty land, where the -discovery of a well seemed like the interposition of an angel in man’s -behalf. - -We are told also by the ancient chroniclers that serpent-worship once -prevailed in Ireland, and that St. Patrick hewed down the serpent idol -_Crom-Cruadh_ (the great worm) and cast it into the Boyne (from whence -arose the legend that St. Patrick banished all venomous things from -the island). Now as the Irish never could have seen a serpent, none -existing in Ireland, this worship must have come from the far East, -where this beautiful and deadly creature is looked upon as the symbol -of the Evil One, and worshipped and propitiated by votive offerings, -as all evil things were in the early world, in the hope of turning -away their evil hatred from man, and to induce them to show mercy and -pity; just as the Egyptians propitiated the sacred crocodile by subtle -flatteries and hung costly jewels in its ears. The Irish, indeed, do -not seem to have originated any peculiar or national cultus. Their -funeral ceremonies recall those of Egypt and Greece and other ancient -Eastern climes, from whence they brought their customs of the Wake, -the death chant, the mourning women, and the funeral games. In Sparta, -on the death of a king or great chief, they had a wake and “keen” not -common to the rest of Greece, but which they said they learned from the -Phœnicians; and this peculiar usage bears a striking resemblance to -the Irish practice. All the virtues of the dead were recited, and the -Greek “Eleleu,” the same cry as the “Ul-lu-lu” of the Irish, was keened -over the corpse by the chorus of hired mourning women. The custom of -selecting women in place of men for the chorus of lamentation prevailed -throughout all the ancient world, as if an open display of grief was -thought beneath the dignity of man. It was Cassandra gave the keynote -for the wail over Hector, and Helen took the lead in reciting praises -to his honour. The death chants in Egypt, Arabia, and Abyssinia all -bear a marked resemblance to the Irish; indeed the mourning cry is the -same in all, and the Egyptian lamentation “Hi-loo-loo! Hi-loo-loo!” -cried over the dead, was probably the original form of the Irish wail. - -The Greeks always endeavoured to lessen the terrors of death, and for -this reason they established funeral games, and the funeral ceremonies -took the form of a festival, where they ate and drank and poured -libations of wine in honour of the dead. The Irish had also their -funeral games and peculiar dances, when they threw off their upper -garments, and holding hands in a circle, moved in a slow measure round -a woman crouched in the centre, with her hands covering her face. -Another singular part of the ceremony was the entrance of a woman -wearing a cow’s head and horns, as Io appears upon the scene in the -Prometheus of Æschylus. This woman was probably meant to represent the -horned or crescented moon, the antique Diana, the Goddess of Death. -The custom of throwing off the garments no doubt originally signified -the casting off the garment of the flesh. We brought nothing into this -world, and it is certain we carry nothing out. The soul must stand -unveiled before God. - -In the islands off the West Coast of Ireland, where the most ancient -superstitions still exist, they have a strange custom. No funeral -wail is allowed to be raised until three hours have elapsed from the -moment of death, because, they say, the sound of the cries would -hinder the soul from speaking to God when it stands before Him, and -waken up the two great dogs that are watching for the souls of the -dead in order that they may devour them—and the Lord of Heaven Himself -cannot hinder them if once they waken. This tradition of watching by -the dead in silence, while the soul stands before God, is a fine and -solemn superstition, which must have had its origin amongst a people -of intense faith in the invisible world, and is probably of great -antiquity. - -The sound of the Irish keen is wonderfully pathetic. No one could -listen to the long-sustained minor wail of the “Ul-lu-lu” without -strong emotion and even tears; and once heard it can never be -forgotten. Nor is there anything derogatory to grief in the idea -of hired mourners; on the contrary, it is a splendid tribute to -the dead to order their praises to be recited publicly before the -assembled friends; while there is something indescribably impressive -in the aspect of the mourning women crouched around the bier with -shrouded heads, as they rock themselves to and fro and intone the -solemn, ancient death-song with a measured cadence, sometimes rising -to a piercing wail. They seem like weird and shadowy outlines of an -old-world vision, and at once the imagination is carried back to the -far-distant East, and the time when all these funeral symbols had a -mysterious and awful meaning. Sometimes a wail of genuine and bitter -grief interrupts the chant of the hired mourners. An Irish keen which -was taken down from the lips of a bereaved mother some years ago, runs -thus in the literal English version— - -“O women, look on me! Look on me, women! Have you ever seen any sorrow -like mine? Have you ever seen the like of me in my sorrow? Arrah, then, -my darling, my darling, ’tis your mother that calls you. How long you -are sleeping. Do you see all the people round you, my darling, and I -sorely weeping? Arrah, what is this paleness on your face? Sure there -was no equal to it in Erin for beauty and fairness, and your hair was -heavy as the wing of a raven, and your skin was whiter than the hand of -a lady. Is it the stranger must carry me to my grave, and my son lying -here?” - -This touching lament is so thoroughly Greek in form and sentiment that -it might be taken for part of a chorus from the Hecuba of Euripides. -Even the “Arrah” reminds one of a Greek word used frequently by the -Greeks when commencing a sentence or asking a question, although the -resemblance may be only superficial. - -The tales and legends told by the peasants in the Irish vernacular -are much more weird and strange, and have much more of the old-world -colouring than the ordinary fairy tales narrated in English by the -people, as may be seen by the following mythical story, translated from -the Irish, and which is said to be a thousand years old:— - - -THE HORNED WOMEN. - - -A rich woman sat up late one night carding and preparing wool, while -all the family and servants were asleep. Suddenly a knock was given at -the door, and a voice called—“Open! open!” - -“Who is there?” said the woman of the house. - -“I am the Witch of the One Horn,” was answered. - -The mistress, supposing that one of her neighbours had called and -required assistance, opened the door, and a woman entered, having in -her hand a pair of wool carders, and bearing a horn on her forehead, -as if growing there. She sat down by the fire in silence, and began to -card the wool with violent haste. Suddenly she paused and said aloud: -“Where are the women? They delay too long.” - -Then a second knock came to the door, and a voice called as -before—“Open! open!” - -The mistress felt herself constrained to rise and open to the call, and -immediately a second witch entered, having two horns on her forehead, -and in her hand a wheel for spinning the wool. - -“Give me place,” she said; “I am the Witch of the Two Horns,” and she -began to spin as quick as lightning. - -And so the knocks went on, and the call was heard, and the witches -entered, until at last twelve women sat round the fire—the first with -one horn, the last with twelve horns. And they carded the thread, and -turned their spinning wheels, and wound and wove, all singing together -an ancient rhyme, but no word did they speak to the mistress of the -house. Strange to hear, and frightful to look upon were these twelve -women, with their horns and their wheels; and the mistress felt near -to death, and she tried to rise that she might call for help, but she -could not move, nor could she utter a word or a cry, for the spell of -the witches was upon her. - -Then one of them called to her in Irish and said— - -“Rise, woman, and make us a cake.” - -Then the mistress searched for a vessel to bring water from the well -that she might mix the meal and make the cake, but she could find none. -And they said to her— - -“Take a sieve and bring water in it.” - -And she took the sieve and went to the well; but the water poured from -it, and she could fetch none for the cake, and she sat down by the well -and wept. Then a voice came by her and said— - -“Take yellow clay and moss and bind them together and plaster the sieve -so that it will hold.” - -This she did, and the sieve held the water for the cake. And the voice -said again— - -“Return, and when thou comest to the north angle of the house, cry -aloud three times and say, ‘The mountain of the Fenian women and the -sky over it is all on fire.’” - -And she did so. - -When the witches inside heard the call, a great and terrible cry broke -from their lips and they rushed forth with wild lamentations and -shrieks, and fled away to Slieve-namon, where was their chief abode. -But the Spirit of the Well bade the mistress of the house to enter -and prepare her home against the enchantments of the witches if they -returned again. - -And first, to break their spells, she sprinkled the water in which -she had washed her child’s feet (the feet-water) outside the door on -the threshold; secondly, she took the cake which the witches had made -in her absence, of meal mixed with the blood drawn from the sleeping -family. And she broke the cake in bits, and placed a bit in the mouth -of each sleeper, and they were restored; and she took the cloth they -had woven and placed it half in and half out of the chest with the -padlock; and lastly, she secured the door with a great cross-beam -fastened in the jambs, so that they could not enter. And having done -these things she waited. - -Not long were the witches in coming back, and they raged and called for -vengeance. - -“Open! Open!” they screamed. “Open, feet-water!” - -“I cannot,” said the feet-water, “I am scattered on the ground and my -path is down to the Lough.” - -“Open, open, wood and tree and beam!” they cried to the door. - -“I cannot,” said the door; “for the beam is fixed in the jambs and I -have no power to move.” - -“Open, open, cake that we have made and mingled with blood,” they cried -again. - -“I cannot,” said the cake, “for I am broken and bruised, and my blood -is on the lips of the sleeping children.” - -Then the witches rushed through the air with great cries, and fled back -to Slieve-namon, uttering strange curses on the Spirit of the Well, -who had wished their ruin; but the woman and the house were left in -peace, and a mantle dropped by one of the witches in her flight was -kept hung up by the mistress as a sign of the night’s awful contest; -and this mantle was in possession of the same family from generation to -generation for five hundred years after. - - -THE LEGEND OF BALLYTOWTAS CASTLE. - - -The next tale I shall select is composed in a lighter and more modern -spirit. All the usual elements of a fairy tale are to be found in it, -but the story is new to the nursery folk, and, if well illustrated, -would make a pleasant and novel addition to the rather worn-out legends -on which the children of many generations have been hitherto subsisting. - -In old times there lived where Ballytowtas Castle now stands a poor -man named Towtas. It was in the time when manna fell to the earth with -the dew of evening, and Towtas lived by gathering the manna, and thus -supported himself, for he was a poor man, and had nothing else. - -One day a pedlar came by that way with a fair young daughter. - -“Give us a night’s lodging,” he said to Towtas, “for we are weary.” - -And Towtas did so. - -Next morning, when they were going away, his heart longed for the young -girl, and he said to the pedlar, “Give me your daughter for my wife.” - -“How will you support her?” asked the pedlar. - -“Better than you can,” answered Towtas, “for she can never want.” - -Then he told him all about the manna; how he went out every morning -when it was lying on the ground with the dew, and gathered it, as his -father and forefathers had done before him, and lived on it all their -lives, so that he had never known want nor any of his people. - -Then the girl showed she would like to stay with the young man, and -the pedlar consented, and they were married, Towtas and the fair young -maiden; and the pedlar left them and went his way. So years went on, -and they were very happy and never wanted; and they had one son, a -bright, handsome youth, and as clever as he was comely. - -But in due time old Towtas died, and after her husband was buried, the -woman went out to gather the manna as she had seen him do, when the dew -lay on the ground; but she soon grew tired and said to herself, “Why -should I do this thing every day? I’ll just gather now enough to do the -week and then I can have rest.” - -So she gathered up great heaps of it greedily, and went her way into -the house. But the sin of greediness lay on her evermore; and not a bit -of manna fell with the dew that evening, nor ever again. And she was -poor, and faint with hunger, and had to go out and work in the fields -to earn the morsel that kept her and her son alive; and she begged -pence from the people as they went into chapel, and this paid for her -son’s schooling; so he went on with his learning, and no one in the -county was like him for beauty and knowledge. - -One day he heard the people talking of a great lord that lived up in -Dublin, who had a daughter so handsome that her like was never seen; -and all the fine young gentlemen were dying about her, but she would -take none of them. And he came home to his mother and said, “I shall go -see this great lord’s daughter. Maybe the luck will be mine above all -the fine young gentlemen that love her.” - -“Go along, poor fool,” said the mother, “how can the poor stand before -the rich?” - -But he persisted. “If I die on the road,” he said, “I’ll try it.” - -“Wait, then,” she answered, “till Sunday, and whatever I get I’ll give -you half of it.” So she gave him half of the pence she gathered at the -chapel door, and bid him go in the name of God. - -He hadn’t gone far when he met a poor man who asked him for a trifle -for God’s sake. So he gave him something out of his mother’s money and -went on. Again, another met him, and begged for a trifle to buy food, -for the sake of God, and he gave him something also, and then went on. - -“Give me a trifle for God’s sake,” cried a voice, and he saw a third -poor man before him. - -“I have nothing left,” said Towtas, “but a few pence; if I give them, I -shall have nothing for food and must die of hunger. But come with me, -and whatever I can buy for this I shall share with you.” And as they -were going on to the inn he told all his story to the beggar man, and -how he wanted to go to Dublin, but had now no money. So they came to -the inn, and he called for a loaf and a drink of milk. “Cut the loaf,” -he said to the beggar. “You are the oldest.” - -“I won’t,” said the other, for he was ashamed, but Towtas made him. - -And so the beggar cut the loaf, but though they ate, it never grew -smaller, and though they drank as they liked of the milk, it never -grew less. Then Towtas rose up to pay, but when the landlady came and -looked, “How is this?” she said. “You have eaten nothing. I’ll not take -your money, poor boy,” but he made her take some; and they left the -place, and went on their way together. - -“Now,” said the beggar man, “you have been three times good to me -to-day, for thrice I have met you, and you gave me help for the sake of -God each time. See, now, I can help also,” and he reached a gold ring -to the handsome youth. “Wherever you place that ring, and wish for it, -gold will come—bright gold, so that you can never want while you have -it.” - -Then Towtas put the ring first in one pocket and then in another, until -all his pockets were so heavy with gold that he could scarcely walk; -but when he turned to thank the friendly beggar man, he had disappeared. - -So, wondering to himself at all his adventures, he went on, until he -came at last in sight of the lord’s palace, which was beautiful to see; -but he would not enter in until he went and bought fine clothes, and -made himself as grand as any prince; and then he went boldly up, and -they invited him in, for they said, “Surely he is a king’s son.” And -when dinner-hour came the lord’s daughter linked her arm with Towtas, -and smiled on him. And he drank of the rich wine, and was mad with -love; but at last the wine overcame him, and the servants had to carry -him to his bed; and in going into his room he dropped the ring from his -finger, but knew it not. - -Now, in the morning, the lord’s daughter came by, and cast her eyes -upon the door of his chamber, and there close by it was the ring she -had seen him wear. - -“Ah,” she said, “I’ll tease him now about his ring.” And she put it -in her box, and wished that she were as rich as a king’s daughter, -that so the king’s son might marry her; and, behold, the box filled up -with gold, so that she could not shut it; and she put it from her into -another box, and that filled also; and then she was frightened at the -ring, and put it at last in her pocket as the safest place. - -But when Towtas awoke and missed the ring, his heart was grieved. - -“Now, indeed,” he said, “my luck is gone.” - -And he inquired of all the servants, and then of the lord’s daughter, -and she laughed, by which he knew she had it; but no coaxing would get -it from her, so when all was useless he went away, and set out again to -reach his old home. - -And he was very mournful and threw himself down on the ferns near an -old fort, waiting till night came on, for he feared to go home in the -daylight lest the people should laugh at him for his folly. And about -dusk three cats came out of the fort talking to each other. - -“How long our cook is away,” said one. - -“What can have happened to him?” said another. - -And as they were grumbling a fourth cat came up. - -“What delayed you?” they all asked angrily. - -Then he told his story—how he had met Towtas and given him the ring. -“And I just went,” he said, “to the lord’s palace to see how the young -man behaved; and I was leaping over the dinner-table when the lord’s -knife struck my tail and three drops of blood fell upon his plate, but -he never saw it and swallowed them with his meat. So now he has three -kittens inside him and is dying of agony, and can never be cured until -he drinks three draughts of the water of the well of Ballytowtas.” - -So when young Towtas heard the cats talk he sprang up and went and told -his mother to give him three bottles full of the water of the Towtas -well, and he would go to the lord disguised as a doctor and cure him. - -So off he went to Dublin. And all the doctors in Ireland were round -the lord, but none of them could tell what ailed him, or how to cure -him. Then Towtas came in and said, “I will cure him.” So they gave him -entertainment and lodging, and when he was refreshed he gave of the -well water three draughts to his lordship, when out jumped the three -kittens. And there was great rejoicing, and they treated Towtas like -a prince. But all the same he could not get the ring from the lord’s -daughter, so he set off home again quite disheartened, and thought to -himself, “If I could only meet the man again that gave me the ring who -knows what luck I might have?” And he sat down to rest in a wood, and -saw there not far off three boys fighting under an oak-tree. - -“Shame on ye to fight so,” he said to them. “What is the fight about?” - -Then they told him. “Our father,” they said, “before he died, buried -under this oak-tree a ring by which you can be in any place in two -minutes if you only wish it; a goblet that is always full when -standing, and empty only when on its side; and a harp that plays any -tune of itself that you name or wish for.” - -“I want to divide the things,” said the youngest boy, “and let us all -go and seek our fortunes as we can.” - -“But I have a right to the whole,” said the eldest. - -And they went on fighting, till at length Towtas said— - -“I’ll tell you how to settle the matter. All of you be here to-morrow, -and I’ll think over the matter to-night, and I engage you will have -nothing more to quarrel about when you come in the morning.” - -So the boys promised to keep good friends till they met in the morning, -and went away. - -When Towtas saw them clear off, he dug up the ring, the goblet, and the -harp, and now said he, “I’m all right, and they won’t have anything to -fight about in the morning.” - -Off he set back again to the lord’s castle with the ring, the goblet, -and the harp; but he soon bethought himself of the powers of the -ring, and in two minutes he was in the great hall where all the lords -and ladies were just sitting down to dinner; and the harp played the -sweetest music, and they all listened in delight; and he drank out of -the goblet which was never empty, and then, when his head began to grow -a little light, “It is enough,” he said; and putting his arm round the -waist of the lord’s daughter, he took his harp and goblet in the other -hand, and murmuring—“I wish we were at the old fort by the side of the -wood”—in two minutes they were both at the desired spot. But his head -was heavy with the wine, and he laid down the harp beside him and fell -asleep. And when she saw him asleep she took the ring off his finger, -and the harp and the goblet from the ground and was back home in her -father’s castle before two minutes had passed by. - -When Towtas awoke and found his prize gone, and all his treasures -beside, he was like one mad; and roamed about the country till he came -by an orchard, where he saw a tree covered with bright, rosy apples. -Being hungry and thirsty, he plucked one and ate it, but no sooner -had he done so than horns began to sprout from his forehead, and grew -larger and longer till he knew he looked like a goat, and all he could -do, they would not come off. Now, indeed, he was driven out of his -mind, and thought how all the neighbours would laugh at him; and as he -raged and roared with shame, he spied another tree with apples, still -brighter, of ruddy gold. - -“If I were to have fifty pairs of horns I must have one of those,” he -said; and seizing one, he had no sooner tasted it than the horns fell -off, and he felt that he was looking stronger and handsomer than ever. - -“Now, I have her at last,” he exclaimed. “I’ll put horns on them all, -and will never take them off until they give her to me as my bride -before the whole Court.” - -Without further delay he set off to the lord’s palace, carrying with -him as many of the apples as he could bring off the two trees. And when -they saw the beauty of the fruit they longed for it; and he gave to -them all, so that at last there was not a head to be seen without horns -in the whole dining-hall. Then they cried out and prayed to have the -horns taken off, but Towtas said— - -“No; there they shall be till I have the lord’s daughter given to me -for my bride, and my two rings, my goblet, and my harp all restored to -me.” - -And this was done before the face of all the lords and ladies; and his -treasures were restored to him; and the lord placed his daughter’s hand -in the hand of Towtas, saying— - -“Take her; she is your wife; only free me from the horns.” - -Then Towtas brought forth the golden apples; and they all ate, and the -horns fell off; and he took his bride and his treasures, and carried -them off home, where he built the Castle of Ballytowtas, in the place -where stood his father’s hut, and enclosed the well within the walls. -And when he had filled his treasure-room with gold, so that no man -could count his riches, he buried his fairy treasures deep in the -ground, where no man knew, and no man has ever yet been able to find -them until this day. - - -A WOLF STORY. - - -Transformation into wolves is a favourite subject of Irish legend, and -many a wild tale is told by the peasants round the turf fire in the -winter nights of strange adventures with wolves. Stories that had come -down to them from their forefathers in the old times long ago; for -there are no wolves existing now in Ireland. - -A young farmer, named Connor, once missed two fine cows from his -herd, and no tale or tidings could be heard of them anywhere. So he -thought he would set out on a search throughout the country; and he -took a stout blackthorn stick in his hand, and went his way. All day -he travelled miles and miles, but never a sign of the cattle. And the -evening began to grow very dark, and he was wearied and hungry, and no -place near to rest in; for he was in the midst of a bleak, desolate -heath, with never a habitation at all in sight, except a long, low, -rude shieling, like the den of a robber or a wild beast. But a gleam of -light came from a chink between the boards, and Connor took heart and -went up and knocked at the door. It was opened at once by a tall, thin, -grey-haired old man, with keen, dark eyes. - -“Come in,” he said, “you are welcome. We have been waiting for you. -This is my wife,” and he brought him over to the hearth, where was -seated an old, thin, grey woman, with long, sharp teeth and terrible -glittering eyes. - -“You are welcome,” she said. “We have been waiting for you—it is time -for supper. Sit down and eat with us.” - -Now Connor was a brave fellow, but he was a little dazed at first at -the sight of this strange creature. However, as he had his stout stick -with him, he thought he could make a fight for his life any way, and, -meantime, he would rest and eat, for he was both hungry and weary, and -it was now black night, and he would never find his way home even if he -tried. So he sat down by the hearth, while the old grey woman stirred -the pot on the fire. But Connor felt that she was watching him all the -time with her keen, sharp eyes. - -Then a knock came to the door. And the old man rose up and opened -it. When in walked a slender, young black wolf, who immediately went -straight across the floor to an inner room, from which in a few moments -came forth a dark, slender, handsome youth, who took his place at the -table and looked hard at Connor with his glittering eyes. - -“You are welcome,” he said, “we have waited for you.” - -Before Connor could answer another knock was heard, and in came a -second wolf, who passed on to the inner room like the first, and soon -after, another dark, handsome youth came out and sat down to supper -with them, glaring at Connor with his keen eyes, but said no word. - -“These are our sons,” said the old man, “tell them what you want, and -what brought you here amongst us, for we live alone and don’t care to -have spies and strangers coming to our place.” - -Then Connor told his story, how he had lost his two fine cows, and had -searched all day and found no trace of them; and he knew nothing of the -place he was in, nor of the kindly gentleman who asked him to supper; -but if they just told him where to find his cows he would thank them, -and make the best of his way home at once. - -Then they all laughed and looked at each other, and the old hag looked -more frightful than ever when she showed her long, sharp teeth. - -On this, Connor grew angry, for he was hot tempered; and he grasped his -blackthorn stick firmly in his hand and stood up, and bade them open -the door for him; for he would go his way, since they would give no -heed and only mocked him. - -Then the eldest of the young men stood up. “Wait,” he said, “we are -fierce and evil, but we never forget a kindness. Do you remember, one -day down in the glen you found a poor little wolf in great agony and -like to die, because a sharp thorn had pierced his side? And you gently -extracted the thorn and gave him a drink, and went your way leaving him -in peace and rest?” - -“Aye, well do I remember it,” said Connor, “and how the poor little -beast licked my hand in gratitude.” - -“Well,” said the young man, “I am that wolf, and I shall help you if I -can, but stay with us to-night and have no fear.” - -So they sat down again to supper and feasted merrily, and then all fell -fast asleep, and Connor knew nothing more till he awoke in the morning -and found himself by a large hay-rick in his own field. - -“Now surely,” thought he, “the adventure of last night was not all a -dream, and I shall certainly find my cows when I go home; for that -excellent, good young wolf promised his help, and I feel certain he -would not deceive me.” - -But when he arrived home and looked over the yard and the stable and -the field, there was no sign nor sight of the cows. So he grew very sad -and dispirited. But just then he espied in the field close by three of -the most beautiful strange cows he had ever set eyes on. “These must -have strayed in,” he said, “from some neighbour’s ground;” and he took -his big stick to drive them out of the gate off the field. But when he -reached the gate, there stood a young black wolf watching; and when the -cows tried to pass out at the gate he bit at them, and drove them back. -Then Connor knew that his friend the wolf had kept his word. So he let -the cows go quietly back to the field; and there they remained, and -grew to be the finest in the whole country, and their descendants are -flourishing to this day, and Connor grew rich and prospered; for a kind -deed is never lost, but brings good luck to the doer for evermore, as -the old proverb says: - - “Blessings are won, - By a good deed done.” - -But never again did Connor find that desolate heath or that lone -shieling, though he sought far and wide, to return his thanks, as was -due to the friendly wolves; nor did he ever again meet any of the -family, though he mourned much whenever a slaughtered wolf was brought -into the town for the sake of the reward, fearing his excellent friend -might be the victim. At that time the wolves in Ireland had increased -to such an extent, owing to the desolation of the country by constant -wars, that a reward was offered and a high price paid for every wolf’s -skin brought into the court of the justiciary; and this was in the time -of Queen Elizabeth, when the English troops made ceaseless war against -the Irish people, and there were more wolves in Ireland than men; and -the dead lay unburied in hundreds on the highways, for there were no -hands left to dig them graves. - - -THE EVIL EYE. - - -There is nothing more dreaded by the people, nor considered more deadly -in its effects, than the Evil Eye. - -It may strike at any moment unless the greatest precautions are taken, -and even then there is no true help possible unless the fairy doctor is -at once summoned to pronounce the mystic charm that can alone destroy -the evil and fatal influence. - -There are several modes in which the Evil Eye can act, some much more -deadly than others. If certain persons are met the first thing in the -morning, you will be unlucky for the whole of that day in all you do. -If the evil-eyed comes in to rest, and looks fixedly on anything, -on cattle or on a child, there is doom in the glance; a fatality -which cannot be evaded except by a powerful counter-charm. But if -the evil-eyed mutters a verse over a sleeping child, that child will -assuredly die, for the incantation is of the devil, and no charm has -power to resist it or turn away the evil. Sometimes the process of -bewitching is effected by looking fixedly at the object, through nine -fingers; especially is the magic fatal if the victim is seated by the -fire in the evening when the moon is full. Therefore, to avoid being -suspected of having the Evil Eye, it is necessary at once, when looking -at a child, to say “God bless it.” And when passing a farmyard where -the cows are collected for milking, to say, “The blessing of God be -on you and on all your labours.” If this form is omitted, the worst -results may be apprehended, and the people would be filled with terror -and alarm, unless a counter-charm were not instantly employed. - -The singular malific influence of a glance has been felt by most -persons in life; an influence that seems to paralyze intellect and -speech, simply by the mere presence in the room of some one who -is mystically antipathetic to our nature. For the soul is like a -fine-toned harp that vibrates to the slightest external force or -movement, and the presence and glance of some persons can radiate -around us a divine joy, while others may kill the soul with a sneer or -a frown. We call these subtle influences mysteries, but the early races -believed them to be produced by spirits, good or evil, as they acted on -the nerves or the intellect. - -Some years ago an old woman was living in Kerry, and it was thought -so unlucky to meet her in the morning, that all the girls used to go -out after sunset to bring in water for the following day, that so they -might avoid her evil glance; for whatever she looked on came to loss -and grief. - -There was a man, also, equally dreaded on account of the strange, fatal -power of his glance; and so many accidents and misfortunes were traced -to his presence that finally the neighbours insisted that he should -wear a black patch over the Evil Eye, not to be removed unless by -request; for learned gentlemen, curious in such things, sometimes came -to him to ask for a proof of his power, and he would try it for a wager -while drinking with his friends. - -One day, near an old ruin of a castle, he met a boy weeping in great -grief for his pet pigeon, which had got up to the very top of the ruin, -and could not be coaxed down. - -“What will you give me,” asked the man, “if I bring it down for you?” - -“I have nothing to give,” said the boy, “but I will pray to God for -you. Only get me back my pigeon, and I shall be happy.” - -Then the man took off the black patch and looked up steadfastly at the -bird; when all of a sudden it fell to the ground and lay motionless, as -if stunned; but there was no harm done to it, and the boy took it up -and went his way, rejoicing. - - * * * * * - -A woman in the County Galway had a beautiful child, so handsome, that -all the neighbours were very careful to say “God bless it” when they -saw him, for they knew the fairies would desire to steal the child, and -carry it off to the hills. - -But one day it chanced that an old woman, a stranger, came in. “Let me -rest,” she said, “for I am weary.” And she sat down and looked at the -child, but never said “God bless it.” And when she had rested, she rose -up, looked again at the child fixedly, in silence, and then went her -way. - -All that night the child cried and would not sleep. And all next day -it moaned as if in pain. So the mother told the priest, but he would -do nothing for fear of the fairies. And just as the poor mother was in -despair, she saw a strange woman going by the door. “Who knows,” she -said to her husband, “but this woman would help us.” So they asked her -to come in and rest. And when she looked at the child she said “God -bless it,” instantly, and spat three times at it, and then sat down. - -“Now, what will you give me,” she said, “if I tell you what ails the -child?” - -“I will cross your hand with silver,” said the mother, “as much as you -want, only speak,” and she laid the money on the woman’s hand. “Now -tell me the truth, for the sake and in the name of Mary, and the good -Angels.” - -“Well,” said the stranger, “the fairies have had your child these two -days in the hills, and this is a changeling they have left in its -place. But so many blessings were said on your child that the fairies -can do it no harm. For there was only one blessing wanting, and only -one person gave the Evil Eye. Now, you must watch for this woman, carry -her into the house and secretly cut off a piece of her cloak. Then burn -the piece close to the child, till the smoke as it rises makes him -sneeze; and when this happens the spell is broken, and your own child -will come back to you safe and sound, in place of the changeling.” - -Then the stranger rose up and went her way. - -All that evening the mother watched for the old woman, and at last she -spied her on the road. - -“Come in,” she cried, “come in, good woman, and rest, for the cakes are -hot on the griddle, and supper is ready.” - -So the woman came in, but never said “God bless you kindly,” to man or -mortal, only scowled at the child, who cried worse than ever. - -Now the mother had told her eldest girl to cut off a piece of the old -woman’s cloak, secretly, when she sat down to eat. And the girl did as -she was desired, and handed the piece to her mother, unknown to any -one. But, to their surprise, this was no sooner done than the woman -rose up and went out without uttering a word; and they saw her no more. - -Then the father carried the child outside, and burned the piece of -cloth before the door, and held the boy over the smoke till he sneezed -three times violently: after which he gave the child back to the -mother, who laid him in his bed, where he slept peacefully, with a -smile on his face, and cried no more with the cry of pain. And when he -woke up the mother knew that she had got her own darling child back -from the fairies, and no evil thing happened to him any more. - - * * * * * - -The influence of the mysterious and malign power of the Evil Eye has at -all times been as much dreaded in Ireland as it is in Egypt, Greece, -or Italy at the present day. Everything young, beautiful, or perfect -after its kind, and which naturally attracts attention and admiration, -is peculiarly liable to the fatal blight that follows the glance of the -Evil Eye. It is therefore an invariable habit amongst the peasantry -never to praise anything without instantly adding, “God bless it;” for -were this formula omitted, the worst consequences would befall the -object praised. - -The superstition must be of great antiquity in Ireland, for Balor, the -Fomorian giant and hero, is spoken of in an ancient manuscript as able -to petrify his enemies by a glance; and how he became possessed of the -power is thus narrated:— - -One day as the Druids were busy at their incantations, while boiling a -magical spell or charm, young Balor passed by, and curious to see their -work, looked in at an open window. At that moment the Druids happened -to raise the lid of the caldron, and the vapour, escaping, passed under -one of Balor’s eyes, carrying with it all the venom of the incantation. -This caused his brow to grow to such a size that it required four men -to raise it whenever he wanted to exert the power of his venomed glance -over his enemies. He was slain at last in single combat, according to -the ancient legend, at the great battle of Magh-Tura[2] (the plain of -the towers), fought between the Firbolgs and the Tuatha-de-Dananns for -the possession of Ireland several centuries before the Christian era; -for before Balor’s brow could be lifted so that he could transfix his -enemy and strike him dead with the terrible power of his glance, his -adversary flung a stone with such violence that it went right through -the Evil Eye, and pierced the skull, and the mighty magician fell to -rise no more. - - [2] Now called Moytura. - -An interesting account of this battle, with a remarkable confirmation -of the legends respecting it still current in the district, is given -by Sir William Wilde, in his work, “Lough Corrib; its Shores and -Islands.” In the ancient manuscript, it is recorded that a young hero -having been slain while bravely defending his king, the Firbolg army -erected a mound over him, each man carrying a stone, and the monument -was henceforth known as the _Carn-in-en-Fhir_ (the cairn of the one -man). Having examined the locality with a transcript of this manuscript -in his hand, Sir William fixed on the particular mound, amongst the -many stone tumuli scattered over the plain, which seemed to agree -best with the description, and had it opened carefully under his own -superintendence. - -A large flag-stone was first discovered, laid horizontally; then -another beneath it, covering a small square chamber formed of stones, -within which was _a single urn_ of baked clay, graceful and delicate -in form and ornamentation, containing incinerated human bones, the -remains, there can be no reason to doubt, of the Firbolg youth -who was honoured for his loyalty by the erection over him of the -_Carn-in-en-Fhir_ on the historic plains of Mayo. - -After Balor, the only other ancient instance of the fatal effects of -the malific Eye is narrated of St. Silan, who had a poisonous hair in -his eyebrow that killed whoever looked first on him in the morning. All -persons, therefore, who from long sickness, or sorrow, or the weariness -that comes with years, were tired of life, used to try and come in the -saint’s way, that so their sufferings might be ended by a quick and -easy death. But another saint, the holy Molaise, hearing that St. Silan -was coming to visit his church, resolved that no more deaths should -happen by means of the poisoned hair. So he arose early in the morning, -before any one was up, and went forth alone to meet St. Silan, and when -he saw him coming along the path, he went boldly up and plucked out the -fatal hair from his eyebrow, but in doing so he himself was struck by -the venom, and immediately after fell down dead. - -The power of the Evil Eye was recognized by the Brehon laws, and severe -measures were ordained against the users of the malign influence. “If a -person is in the habit of injuring things through neglect, or of will, -whether he has blessed, or whether he has not blessed, full penalty be -upon him, or restitution in kind.” So ran the ancient law. - -The gift comes by nature and is born with one, though it may not be -called into exercise unless circumstances arise to excite the power. -Then it seems to act like a spirit of bitter and malicious envy that -radiates a poisonous atmosphere which chills and blights everything -within its reach. Without being superstitious every one has felt that -there is such a power and succumbed to its influence in a helpless, -passive way, as if all self-trust and self-reliant energy were utterly -paralyzed by its influence. - -Suspected persons are held in great dread by the peasantry, and they -recognize them at once by certain signs. Men and women with dark -lowering eyebrows are especially feared, and the handsome children are -kept out of their path lest they might be overlooked by them. - -Red hair is supposed to have a most malign influence, and it has even -passed into a proverb: “Let not the eye of a red-haired woman rest on -you.” - -Many persons are quite unconscious that their glance or frown has -this evil power until some calamity results, and then they strive not -to look at any one full in the face, but to avert their eyes when -speaking, lest misfortune might fall upon the person addressed.[3] - - [3] There is a strange idea current in Europe at the present time that - one of the most remarkable potentates now living has this fatal gift - and power of the Evil Eye. - -The saving invocation, “God bless it!” is universally used when praise -is bestowed, to prevent danger, and should a child fall sick some one -is immediately suspected of having omitted the usual phrase out of -malice and ill-will. Nothing is more dreaded by the peasantry than -the full, fixed, direct glance of one suspected of the Evil Eye, and -should it fall upon them, or on any of their household, a terrible fear -and trembling of heart takes possession of them, which often ends in -sickness or sometimes even in death. - - * * * * * - -Some years ago a woman living in Kerry declared that she was -“overlooked” by the Evil Eye. She had no pleasure in her life and no -comfort, and she wasted away because of the fear that was on her, -caused by the following singular circumstance:— - -Every time that she happened to leave home alone, and that no one was -within call, she was met by a woman totally unknown to her, who, fixing -her eyes on her in silence, with a terrible expression, cast her to -the ground and proceeded to beat and pinch her till she was nearly -senseless; after which her tormentor disappeared. - -Having experienced this treatment several times, the poor woman finally -abstained altogether from leaving the house, unless protected by a -servant or companion; and this precaution she observed for several -years, during which time she never was molested. So at last she began -to believe that the spell was broken, and that her strange enemy had -departed for ever. - -In consequence she grew less careful about the usual precaution, and -one day stepped down alone to a little stream that ran by the house to -wash some clothes. - -Stooping down over her work, she never thought of any danger, and began -to sing as she used to do in the light-hearted days before the spell -was on her, when suddenly a dark shadow fell across the water, and -looking up, she beheld to her horror the strange woman on the opposite -side of the little stream, with her terrible eyes intently fixed on -her, as hard and still as if she were of stone. - -Springing up with a scream of terror, she flung down her work, and -ran towards the house; but soon she heard footsteps behind her, and -in an instant she was seized, thrown down to the ground, and her -tormentor began to beat her even worse than before, till she lost all -consciousness; and in this state she was found by her husband, lying -on her face and speechless. She was at once carried to the house, and -all the care that affection and rural skill could bestow were lavished -on her, but in vain. She, however, regained sufficient consciousness -to tell them of the terrible encounter she had gone through, but died -before the night had passed away. - -It was believed that the power of fascination by the glance, which -is not necessarily an evil power like the Evil Eye, was possessed in -a remarkable degree by learned and wise people, especially poets, so -that they could make themselves loved and followed by any girl they -liked, simply by the influence of the glance. About the year 1790, -a young man resided in the County Limerick, who had this power in a -singular and unusual degree. He was a clever, witty rhymer in the Irish -language; and, probably, had the deep poet eyes that characterize warm -and passionate poet-natures—eyes that even without necromancy have been -known to exercise a powerful magnetic influence over female minds. - -One day, while travelling far from home, he came upon a bright, -pleasant-looking farmhouse, and feeling weary, he stopped and requested -a drink of milk and leave to rest. The farmer’s daughter, a young, -handsome girl, not liking to admit a stranger, as all the maids were -churning, and she was alone in the house, refused him admittance. - -The young poet fixed his eyes earnestly on her face for some time in -silence, then slowly turning round left the house, and walked towards -a small grove of trees just opposite. There he stood for a few moments -resting against a tree, and facing the house as if to take one last -vengeful or admiring glance, then went his way without once turning -round. - -The young girl had been watching him from the windows, and the moment -he moved she passed out of the door like one in a dream, and followed -him slowly, step by step, down the avenue. The maids grew alarmed, and -called to her father, who ran out and shouted loudly for her to stop, -but she never turned or seemed to heed. The young man, however, looked -round, and seeing the whole family in pursuit, quickened his pace, -first glancing fixedly at the girl for a moment. Immediately she sprang -towards him, and they were both almost out of sight, when one of the -maids espied a piece of paper tied to a branch of the tree where the -poet had rested. From curiosity she took it down, and the moment the -knot was untied, the farmer’s daughter suddenly stopped, became quite -still, and when her father came up she allowed him to lead her back to -the house without resistance. - -When questioned, she said that she felt herself drawn by an invisible -force to follow the young stranger wherever he might lead, and that -she would have followed him through the world, for her life seemed to -be bound up in his; she had no will to resist, and was conscious of -nothing else but his presence. Suddenly, however, the spell was broken, -and then she heard her father’s voice, and knew how strangely she had -acted. At the same time the power of the young man over her vanished, -and the impulse to follow him was no longer in her heart. - -The paper, on being opened, was found to contain five mysterious words -written in blood, and in this order— - - Sator. - Arepo. - Tenet. - Opera. - Rotas. - -These letters are so arranged that read in any way, right to left, left -to right, up or down, the same words are produced; and when written in -blood with a pen made of an eagle’s feather, they form a charm which no -woman (it is said) can resist; but the incredulous reader can easily -test the truth of this assertion for himself. - - * * * * * - -These popular stories are provokingly incomplete, and one cannot help -regretting that the romance of “The Poet and the Farmer’s Daughter” was -not brought to a happy termination; but the Irish tales are in general -rather incoherent, more like remembered fragments of ancient stories -than a complete, well-organized dramatic composition, with lights well -placed, and a striking catastrophe. The opening is usually attractive, -with the exciting formula, “Once upon a time,” from which one always -expects so much; and there is sure to be an old woman, weird and -witch-like, capable of the most demoniacal actions, and a mysterious -man who promises to be the unredeemed evil spirit of the tale; but in -the end they both turn out childishly harmless, and their evil actions -seldom go beyond stealing their neighbours’ butter, or abducting a -pretty girl, which sins mere mortals would be quite equal to, even -without the aid of “the gods of the earth” and their renowned leader, -Finvarra, the King of the Fairies. The following tale, however, of a -case of abduction by fairy power, is well constructed. The hero of the -narrative has our sympathy and interest, and it ends happily, which is -considered a great merit by the Irish, as they dislike a tale to which -they cannot append, as an epilogue, the hearty and outspoken “Thank -God.” - - -THE STOLEN BRIDE. - - -About the year 1670 there was a fine young fellow living at a place -called Querin, in the County Clare. He was brave and strong and rich, -for he had his own land and his own house, and not one to lord it over -him. He was called the Kern of Querin. And many a time he would go -out alone to shoot the wild fowl at night along the lonely strand and -sometimes cross over northward to the broad east strand, about two -miles away, to find the wild geese. - -One cold frosty November Eve he was watching for them, crouched down -behind the ruins of an old hut, when a loud splashing noise attracted -his attention. “It is the wild geese,” he thought, and raising his gun, -waited in death-like silence the approach of his victim. - -But presently he saw a dark mass moving along the edge of the strand. -And he knew there were no wild geese near him. So he watched and waited -till the black mass came closer, and then he distinctly perceived four -stout men carrying a bier on their shoulders, on which lay a corpse -covered with a white cloth. For a few moments they laid it down, -apparently to rest themselves, and the Kern instantly fired; on which -the four men ran away shrieking, and the corpse was left alone on the -bier. Kern of Querin immediately sprang to the place, and lifting the -cloth from the face of the corpse, beheld by the freezing starlight, -the form of a beautiful young girl, apparently not dead but in a deep -sleep. - -Gently he passed his hand over her face and raised her up, when she -opened her eyes and looked around with wild wonder, but spake never a -word, though he tried to soothe and encourage her. Then, thinking it -was dangerous for them to remain in that place, he raised her from the -bier, and taking her hand led her away to his own house. They arrived -safely, but in silence. And for twelve months did she remain with the -Kern, never tasting food or speaking word for all that time. - -When the next November Eve came round, he resolved to visit the -east strand again, and watch from the same place, in the hope of -meeting with some adventure that might throw light on the history of -the beautiful girl. His way lay beside the old ruined fort called -_Lios-na-fallainge_ (the Fort of the Mantle), and as he passed, the -sound of music and mirth fell on his ear. He stopped to catch the words -of the voices, and had not waited long when he heard a man say in a low -whisper— - -“Where shall we go to-night to carry off a bride?” - -And a second voice answered— - -“Wherever we go I hope better luck will be ours than we had this day -twelvemonths.” - -“Yes,” said a third; “on that night we carried off a rich prize, the -fair daughter of O’Connor; but that clown, the Kern of Querin, broke -our spell and took her from us. Yet little pleasure has he had of his -bride, for she has neither eaten nor drank nor uttered a word since she -entered his house.” - -“And so she will remain,” said a fourth, “until he makes her eat off -her father’s table-cloth, which covered her as she lay on the bier, and -which is now thrown up over the top of her bed.” - -On hearing all this, the Kern rushed home, and without waiting even for -the morning, entered the young girl’s room, took down the table-cloth, -spread it on the table, laid meat and drink thereon, and led her to it. -“Drink,” he said, “that speech may come to you.” And she drank, and ate -of the food, and then speech came. And she told the Kern her story—how -she was to have been married to a young lord of her own country, and -the wedding guests had all assembled, when she felt herself suddenly -ill and swooned away, and never knew more of what had happened to -her until the Kern had passed his hand over her face, by which she -recovered consciousness, but could neither eat nor speak, for a spell -was on her, and she was helpless. - -Then the Kern prepared a chariot, and carried home the young girl to -her father, who was like to die for joy when he beheld her. And the -Kern grew mightily in O’Connor’s favour, so that at last he gave him -his fair young daughter to wife; and the wedded pair lived together -happily for many long years after, and no evil befell them, but good -followed all the work of their hands. - -This story of Kern of Querin still lingers in the faithful, vivid Irish -memory, and is often told by the peasants of Clare when they gather -round the fire on the awful festival of _Samhain_, or November Eve, -when the dead walk, and the spirits of earth and air have power over -mortals, whether for good or evil. - - -FAIRY MUSIC. - - -The evil influence of the fairy glance does not kill, but it throws -the object into a death-like trance, in which the real body is carried -off to some fairy mansion, while a log of wood, or some ugly, deformed -creature is left in its place, clothed with the shadow of the stolen -form. Young women, remarkable for beauty, young men, and handsome -children, are the chief victims of the fairy stroke. The girls are -wedded to fairy chiefs, and the young men to fairy queens; and if the -mortal children do not turn out well, they are sent back, and others -carried off in their place. It is sometimes possible, by the spells of -a powerful fairy-man, to bring back a living being from Fairy-land. But -they are never quite the same after. They have always a spirit-look, -especially if they have listened to the fairy music. For the fairy -music is soft and low and plaintive, with a fatal charm for mortal ears. - -One day a gentleman entered a cabin in the County Clare, and saw a -young girl about twenty seated by the fire, chanting a melancholy song, -without settled words or music. On inquiry he was told she had once -heard the fairy harp, and those who hear it lose all memory of love or -hate, and forget all things, and never more have any other sound in -their ears save the soft music of the fairy harp, and when the spell is -broken, they die. - -It is remarkable that the Irish national airs—plaintive, beautiful, -and unutterably pathetic—should so perfectly express the spirit of the -Céol-Sidhe (the fairy music), as it haunts the fancy of the people -and mingles with all their traditions of the spirit world. Wild and -capricious as the fairy nature, these delicate harmonies, with their -mystic, mournful rhythm, seem to touch the deepest chords of feeling, -or to fill the sunshine with laughter, according to the mood of the -players; but, above all things, Irish music is the utterance of a -Divine sorrow; not stormy or passionate, but like that of an exiled -spirit, yearning and wistful, vague and unresting; ever seeking the -unattainable, ever shadowed, as it were, with memories of some lost -good, or some dim foreboding of a coming fate—emotions that seem to -find their truest expression in the sweet, sad, lingering wail of the -pathetic minor in a genuine Irish air. There is a beautiful phrase in -one of the ancient manuscripts descriptive of the wonderful power of -Irish music over the sensitive human organization: “Wounded men were -soothed when they heard it, and slept; and women in travail forgot -their pains.” There are legends concerning the subtle charm of the -fairy music and dance, when the mortal under their influence seems to -move through the air with “the naked, fleshless feet of the spirit,” -and is lulled by the ecstasy of the cadence into forgetfulness of all -things, and sometimes into the sleep of death. - - -THE FAIRY DANCE. - - -The following story is from the Irish, as told by a native of one of -the Western Isles, where the primitive superstitions have still all the -freshness of young life. - -One evening late in November, which is the month when spirits have -most power over all things, as the prettiest girl in all the island -was going to the well for water, her foot slipped and she fell. It was -an unlucky omen, and when she got up and looked round it seemed to her -as if she were in a strange place, and all around her was changed as -if by enchantment. But at some distance she saw a great crowd gathered -round a blazing fire, and she was drawn slowly on towards them, till at -last she stood in the very midst of the people; but they kept silence, -looking fixedly at her; and she was afraid, and tried to turn and leave -them, but she could not. Then a beautiful youth, like a prince, with a -red sash, and a golden band on his long yellow hair, came up and asked -her to dance. - -“It is a foolish thing of you, sir, to ask me to dance,” she said, -“when there is no music.” - -Then he lifted his hand and made a sign to the people, and instantly -the sweetest music sounded near her and around her, and the young man -took her hand, and they danced and danced till the moon and the stars -went down, but she seemed like one floating on the air, and she forgot -everything in the world except the dancing, and the sweet low music, -and her beautiful partner. - -At last the dancing ceased, and her partner thanked her, and invited -her to supper with the company. Then she saw an opening in the ground, -and a flight of steps, and the young man, who seemed to be the king -amongst them all, led her down, followed by the whole company. At -the end of the stairs they came upon a large hall, all bright and -beautiful with gold and silver and lights; and the table was covered -with everything good to eat, and wine was poured out in golden cups for -them to drink. When she sat down they all pressed her to eat the food -and to drink the wine; and as she was weary after the dancing, she took -the golden cup the prince handed to her, and raised it to her lips to -drink. Just then, a man passed close to her, and whispered— - -“Eat no food, and drink no wine, or you will never reach your home -again.” - -So she laid down the cup, and refused to drink. On this they were -angry, and a great noise arose, and a fierce, dark man stood up, and -said— - -“Whoever comes to us must drink with us.” - -And he seized her arm, and held the wine to her lips, so that she -almost died of fright. But at that moment a red-haired man came up, and -he took her by the hand and led her out. - -“You are safe for this time,” he said. “Take this herb, and hold it in -your hand till you reach home, and no one can harm you.” And he gave -her a branch of a plant called the _Athair-Luss_ (the ground ivy).[4] - - [4] In Ancient Egypt the ivy was sacred to Osiris, and a safeguard - against evil. - -This she took, and fled away along the sward in the dark night; but all -the time she heard footsteps behind her in pursuit. At last she reached -home and barred the door, and went to bed, when a great clamour arose -outside, and voices were heard crying to her— - -“The power we had over you is gone through the magic of the herb; but -wait—when you dance again to the music on the hill, you will stay with -us for evermore, and none shall hinder.” - -However, she kept the magic branch safely, and the fairies never -troubled her more; but it was long and long before the sound of the -fairy music left her ears which she had danced to that November night -on the hillside with her fairy lover. - - -FAIRY JUSTICE. - -A LEGEND OF SHARK ISLAND. - - -The “Red-haired Man,” although he is considered very unlucky in actual -life, yet generally acts in the fairy world as the benevolent _Deus -ex machina_, that saves and helps and rescues the unhappy mortal, who -himself is quite helpless under the fairy spells. - -There was a man in Shark Island who used to cross over to Boffin[5] -to buy tobacco, but when the weather was too rough for the boat his -ill-temper was as bad as the weather, and he used to beat his wife, and -fling all the things about, so that no one could stand before him. One -day a man came to him. - - [5] The correct names for these islands are Innis-Erk (the Island of - St. Erk), and Innis-bo-finn (the Island of the White Cow). - -“What will you give me if I go over to Boffin,” said he, “and bring you -the tobacco?” - -“I will give you nothing,” said the other. “Whatever way you go I can -go also.” - -“Then come with me to the shore,” said the first man, “and I’ll show -you how to get across; but as only one can go, you must go alone.” - -And as they went down to the sea, they saw a great company of horsemen -and ladies galloping along, with music and laughter. - -“Spring up now on a horse and you will get across,” said the first man. - -So the other sprang up as he was told, and in an instant they all -jumped right across the sea and landed at Boffin. Then he ran to buy -the tobacco and was back again in a minute, and found all the same -company by the sea-shore. He sprang again upon a horse and they all -jumped right into the sea, but suddenly stopped midway between the two -islands, where there was a great rock, and beyond this they could not -force the horses to move. Then there was great disquietude amongst -them, and they called a council. - -“There is a mortal amongst us,” they said. “Let us drown him.” - -And they carried the man up to the top of the rock and cast him down; -and when he rose to the surface again they caught him by the hair, and -cried— - -“Drown him! Drown him! We have the power over life and death; he must -be drowned.” - -And they were going to cast him down a second time, when a red-haired -man pleaded for him, and carried him off with a strong hand safe to -shore. - -“Now,” said he, “you are safe, but mind, the spirits are watching you, -and if ever again you beat your poor good wife, and knock about the -things at home just to torment her out of her life, you will die upon -that rock as sure as fate.” And he vanished. - -So from that time forth the man was as meek as a mouse, for he was -afraid; and whenever he went by the rock in his boat he always stopped -a minute, and said a little prayer for his wife with a “God bless her.” -And this kept away the evil, and they both lived together happily ever -after to a great old age. - -This is but a rude tale. Yet the moral is good, and the threat of -retributive justice shows a laudable spirit of indignation on the part -of the fairy race against the tyranny of man over the weaker vessel. - - -THE PRIEST’S SOUL. - - -An ethical purpose is not often to be detected in the Irish legends; -but the following tale combines an inner meaning with the incidents in -a profound and remarkable manner. The idea that underlies the story -is very subtle and tragic; Calderon or Goethe might have founded a -drama on it; and Browning’s genius would find a fitting subject in -this contrast between the pride of the audacious, self-relying sceptic -in the hour of his triumph and the moral agony that precedes his -punishment and death. - -In former days there were great schools in Ireland where every sort -of learning was taught to the people, and even the poorest had more -knowledge at that time than many a gentleman has now. But as to the -priests, their learning was above all, so that the fame of Ireland went -over the whole world, and many kings from foreign lands used to send -their sons all the way to Ireland to be brought up in the Irish schools. - -Now at this time there was a little boy learning at one of them who -was a wonder to every one for his cleverness. His parents were only -labouring people, and of course very poor; but young as he was, and -poor as he was, no king’s or lord’s son could come up to him in -learning. Even the masters were put to shame, for when they were -trying to teach him he would tell them something they never heard of -before, and show them their ignorance. One of his great triumphs was -in argument; and he would go on till he proved to you that black was -white, and then when you gave in, for no one could beat him in talk, -he would turn round and show you that white was black, or may be that -there was no colour at all in the world. When he grew up his poor -father and mother were so proud of him that they resolved to make him a -priest, which they did at last, though they nearly starved themselves -to get the money. Well, such another learned man was not in Ireland, -and he was as great in argument as ever, so that no one could stand -before him. Even the Bishops tried to talk to him, but he showed them -at once they knew nothing at all. - -Now there were no schoolmasters in those times but it was the priests -taught the people; and as this man was the cleverest in Ireland all the -foreign kings sent their sons to him as long as he had house-room to -give them. So he grew very proud, and began to forget how low he had -been, and worst of all, even to forget God, who had made him what he -was. And the pride of arguing got hold of him, so that from one thing -to another he went on to prove that there was no Purgatory, and then no -Hell, and then no Heaven, and then no God; and at last that men had no -souls, but were no more than a dog or a cow, and when they died there -was an end of them. “Who ever saw a soul?” he would say. “If you can -show me one, I will believe.” No one could make any answer to this; -and at last they all came to believe that as there was no other world, -every one might do what they liked in this; the priest setting the -example, for he took a beautiful young girl to wife. But as no priest -or bishop in the whole land could be got to marry them, he was obliged -to read the service over for himself. It was a great scandal, yet no -one dared to say a word, for all the kings’ sons were on his side, -and would have slaughtered any one who tried to prevent his wicked -goings-on. Poor boys! they all believed in him, and thought every word -he said was the truth. In this way his notions began to spread about, -and the whole world was going to the bad, when one night an angel came -down from Heaven, and told the priest he had but twenty-four hours to -live. He began to tremble, and asked for a little more time. - -But the angel was stiff, and told him that could not be. - -“What do you want time for, you sinner?” he asked. - -“Oh, sir, have pity on my poor soul!” urged the priest. - -“Oh, ho! You have a soul, then,” said the angel. “Pray, how did you -find that out?” - -“It has been fluttering in me ever since you appeared,” answered the -priest. “What a fool I was not to think of it before.” - -“A fool indeed,” said the angel. “What good was all your learning, when -it could not tell you that you had a soul?” - -“Ah, my lord,” said the priest, “if I am to die, tell me how soon I may -be in Heaven?” - -“Never,” replied the angel. “You denied there was a Heaven.” - -“Then, my lord, may I go to Purgatory?” - -“You denied Purgatory also; you must go straight to Hell,” said the -angel. - -“But, my lord, I denied Hell also,” answered the priest, “so you can’t -send me there either.” - -The angel was a little puzzled. - -“Well,” said he, “I’ll tell you what I can do for you. You may either -live now on earth for a hundred years enjoying every pleasure, and then -be cast into Hell for ever; or you may die in twenty-four hours in the -most horrible torments, and pass through Purgatory, there to remain -till the Day of Judgment, if only you can find some one person that -believes, and through his belief mercy will be vouchsafed to you and -your soul will be saved.” - -The priest did not take five minutes to make up his mind. - -“I will have death in the twenty-four hours,” he said, “so that my soul -may be saved at last.” - -On this the angel gave him directions as to what he was to do, and left -him. - -Then, immediately, the priest entered the large room where all his -scholars and the kings’ sons were seated, and called out to them— - -“Now, tell me the truth, and let none fear to contradict me. Tell me -what is your belief. Have men souls?” - -“Master,” they answered, “once we believed that men had souls; but, -thanks to your teaching, we believe so no longer. There is no Hell, and -no Heaven, and no God. This is our belief, for it is thus you taught -us.” - -Then the priest grew pale with fear and cried out—“Listen! I taught you -a lie. There is a God, and man has an immortal soul. I believe now all -I denied before.” - -But the shouts of laughter that rose up drowned the priest’s voice, for -they thought he was only trying them for argument. - -“Prove it, master,” they cried, “prove it. Who has ever seen God? Who -has ever seen the soul?” - -And the room was stirred with their laughter. - -The priest stood up to answer them, but no word could he utter; all his -eloquence, all his powers of argument had gone from him, and he could -do nothing but wring his hands and cry out— - -“There is a God! there is a God! Lord have mercy on my soul!” - -And they all began to mock him, and repeat his own words that he had -taught them— - -“Show him to us; show us your God.” - -And he fled from them groaning with agony, for he saw that none -believed, and how then could his soul be saved? - -But he thought next of his wife. - -“She will believe,” he said to himself. “Women never give up God.” - -And he went to her; but she told him that she believed only what he -taught her, and that a good wife should believe in her husband first, -and before and above all things in heaven or earth. - -Then despair came on him, and he rushed from the house and began to ask -every one he met if they believed. But the same answer came from one -and all—“We believe only what you have taught us,” for his doctrines -had spread far and wide through the county. - -Then he grew half mad with fear, for the hours were passing. And he -flung himself down on the ground in a lonesome spot, and wept and -groaned in terror, for the time was coming fast when he must die. - -Just then a little child came by. - -“God save you kindly,” said the child to him. - -The priest started up. - -“Child, do you believe in God?” he asked. - -“I have come from a far country to learn about Him,” said the child. -“Will your honour direct me to the best school that they have in these -parts?” - -“The best school and the best teacher is close by,” said the priest, -and he named himself. - -“Oh, not to that man,” answered the child, “for I am told he denies -God, and Heaven, and Hell, and even that man has a soul, because we -can’t see it; but I would soon put him down.” - -The priest looked at him earnestly. “How?” he inquired. - -“Why,” said the child, “I would ask him if he believed he had life to -show me his life.” - -“But he could not do that, my child,” said the priest. “Life cannot be -seen; we have it, but it is invisible.” - -“Then if we have life, though we cannot see it, we may also have a -soul, though it is invisible,” answered the child. - -When the priest heard him speak these words he fell down on his knees -before him, weeping for joy, for now he knew his soul was safe; he had -met at last one that believed. And he told the child his whole story: -all his wickedness, and pride, and blasphemy against the great God; and -how the angel had come to him and told him of the only way in which he -could be saved, through the faith and prayers of some one that believed. - -“Now then,” he said to the child, “take this penknife and strike it -into my breast, and go on stabbing the flesh until you see the paleness -of death on my face. Then watch—for a living thing will soar up from -my body as I die, and you will then know that my soul has ascended to -the presence of God. And when you see this thing, make haste and run to -my school and call on all my scholars to come and see that the soul of -their master has left the body, and that all he taught them was a lie, -for that there is a God who punishes sin, and a Heaven and a Hell, -and that man has an immortal soul, destined for eternal happiness or -misery.” - -“I will pray,” said the child, “to have courage to do this work.” - -And he kneeled down and prayed. Then when he rose up he took the -penknife and struck it into the priest’s heart, and struck and -struck again till all the flesh was lacerated; but still the priest -lived though the agony was horrible, for he could not die until the -twenty-four hours had expired. At last the agony seemed to cease, and -the stillness of death settled on his face. Then the child, who was -watching, saw a beautiful living creature, with four snow white wings, -mount from the dead man’s body into the air and go fluttering round his -head. - -So he ran to bring the scholars; and when they saw it they all knew -it was the soul of their master, and they watched with wonder and awe -until it passed from sight into the clouds. - -And this was the first butterfly that was ever seen in Ireland; and now -all men know that the butterflies are the souls of the dead waiting for -the moment when they may enter Purgatory, and so pass through torture -to purification and peace. - -But the schools of Ireland were quite deserted after that time, for -people said, What is the use of going so far to learn when the wisest -man in all Ireland did not know if he had a soul till he was near -losing it; and was only saved at last through the simple belief of a -little child? - - * * * * * - -The allusion in this clever tale to the ancient Irish schools is based -on historical fact. From the seventh to the tenth century Ireland was -the centre of learning. The great Alfred of England was a student at -one of the famous Irish seminaries, along with other royal and noble -youths, and there formed a life-long friendship with the learned -Adamnanl who often afterwards was a welcome guest at the Court of King -Alfred. Other eminent Irishmen are known to history as the teachers and -evangelizers of Europe. Alcuin, the Irish monk, became the friend and -secretary of Charlemagne, and founded, at Aix-la-Chapelle, the first -Grammar School in the imperial dominions. And the celebrated Clemens -and Albinus, two Irishmen of distinguished ability and learning, aided -the emperor not only in educating the people, but also to found a -school for the nobles within his own palace. - - -THE FAIRY RACE. - - -The _Sidhe_, or spirit race, called also the _Feadh-Ree_ or fairies, -are supposed to have been once angels in heaven, who were cast out by -Divine command as a punishment for their inordinate pride. - -Some fell to earth, and dwelt there, long before man was created, as -the first gods of the earth. Others fell into the sea, and they built -themselves beautiful fairy palaces of crystal and pearl underneath the -waves; but on moonlight nights they often come up on the land, riding -their white horses, and they hold revels with their fairy kindred of -the earth, who live in the clefts of the hills, and they dance together -on the greensward under the ancient trees, and drink nectar from the -cups of the flowers, which is the fairy wine. - -Other fairies, however, are demoniacal, and given to evil and malicious -deeds; for when cast out of heaven they fell into hell, and there the -devil holds them under his rule, and sends them forth as he wills -upon missions of evil to tempt the souls of men downward by the false -glitter of sin and pleasure. These spirits dwell under the earth -and impart their knowledge only to certain evil persons chosen of -the devil, who gives them power to make incantations, and brew love -potions, and to work wicked spells, and they can assume different forms -by their knowledge and use of certain magical herbs. - -The witch women who have been taught by them, and have thus become -tools of the Evil One, are the terror of the neighbourhood; for they -have all the power of the fairies and all the malice of the devil, who -reveals to them secrets of times and days, and secrets of herbs, and -secrets of evil spells; and by the power of magic they can effect all -their purposes, whether for good or ill. - -The fairies of the earth are small and beautiful. They passionately -love music and dancing, and live luxuriously in their palaces under the -hills and in the deep mountain caves; and they can obtain all things -lovely for their fairy homes, merely by the strength of their magic -power. They can also assume all forms, and will never know death until -the last day comes, when their doom is to vanish away—to be annihilated -for ever. But they are very jealous of the human race who are so tall -and strong, and to whom has been promised immortality. And they are -often tempted by the beauty of a mortal woman and greatly desire to -have her as a wife. - -The children of such marriages have a strange mystic nature, and -generally become famous in music and song. But they are passionate, -revengeful, and not easy to live with. Every one knows them to be of -the Sidhe or spirit race, by their beautiful eyes and their bold, -reckless temperament. - -The fairy king and princes dress in green, with red caps bound on -the head with a golden fillet. The fairy queen and the great court -ladies are robed in glittering silver gauze, spangled with diamonds, -and their long golden hair sweeps the ground as they dance on the -greensward. - -Their favourite camp and resting-place is under a hawthorn tree, and -a peasant would die sooner than cut down one of the ancient hawthorns -sacred to the fairies, and which generally stands in the centre of a -fairy ring. But the people never offer worship to these fairy beings, -for they look on the Sidhe as a race quite inferior to man. At the same -time they have an immense dread and fear of the mystic fairy power, and -never interfere with them nor offend them knowingly. - -The Sidhe often strive to carry off the handsome children, who are then -reared in the beautiful fairy palaces under the earth, and wedded to -fairy mates when they grow up. - -The people dread the idea of a fairy changeling being left in the -cradle in place of their own lovely child; and if a wizened little -thing is found there, it is sometimes taken out at night and laid in -an open grave till morning, when they hope to find their own child -restored, although more often nothing is found save the cold corpse of -the poor outcast. - -Sometimes it is said the fairies carry off the mortal child for a -sacrifice, as they have to offer one every seven years to the devil -in return for the power he gives them. And beautiful young girls are -carried off, also, either for sacrifice or to be wedded to the fairy -king. - -The fairies are pure and cleanly in their habits, and they like above -all things a pail of water to be set for them at night, in case they -may wish to bathe. - -They also delight in good wines, and are careful to repay the donor in -blessings, for they are truly upright and honest. The great lords of -Ireland, in ancient times, used to leave a keg of the finest Spanish -wine frequently at night out on the window-sill for the fairies, and in -the morning it was all gone. - -Fire is a great preventative against fairy magic, for fire is the -most sacred of all created things, and man alone has power over it. -No animal has ever yet attained the knowledge of how to draw out -the spirit of fire from the stone or the wood, where it has found a -dwelling-place. If a ring of fire is made round cattle or a child’s -cradle, or if fire is placed under the churn, the fairies have no power -to harm. And the spirit of the fire is certain to destroy all fairy -magic, if it exist. - - -THE TRIAL BY FIRE. - - -The ordeal by fire is the great test adopted by the peasants to try if -a child or any one is fairy-struck. There was a man in Mayo who was -bedridden for months and months, and though he ate up all the food they -brought him, he never grew a bit stronger, and on Sundays when they -went to mass, they locked him up and left him alone in the place with -plenty of food. Now there was a fine field close by, and one Sunday, -coming home from mass earlier than usual, they saw a great company of -people bowling in the field, and the sick man amongst them, but at that -moment he vanished away; and when the family reached home, there was -the sick man lying fast asleep in his bed. - -“Get up,” they said, “for we have seen you bowling with the fairies, -and you sha’n’t eat or drink any more at our expense.” - -But he refused, and said he was too ill to move. Then they made down a -large fire of turf and said, “Get up, or we’ll lay you on the fire and -break the fairy spell.” And they took hold of him to burn him. Then he -was frightened, and rose up and went out at the door, and they watched -him till he stopped in the field where the hurlers played, and lay down -there in the grass; but when they went up to him he was dead. - -A man going to his work one morning early saw two women going up to a -house, and one said, “There is a beautiful boy in this house, go in -and hand it out to me, and we’ll leave the dead child in its place.” -And the other went in at the window as she was told, and handed out a -sleeping child, and took the dead child and laid it in the bed within. -Now the man saw it was fairy work, and he went over and made the sign -of the cross on the sleeping child, whereupon the two women shrieked -as if they had been struck, and fled away, dropping the child on the -grass. Then the man took it up gently, and put it under his coat, and -went away to his wife. - -“Here,” he said, “take care of this child till I come back, and burn a -turf beside the cradle to keep off the fairies.” - -When he passed by the house again, where he had seen the two women, he -heard a great crying and lamentation; and he entered in and asked what -ailed them. - -“See here,” said the mother, “my child is dead in its cradle. It died -in the night, and no one near.” And she wept bitterly. - -“Be comforted,” said the man; “this is a fairy changeling, your child -is safe!” and he told her the story. “Now,” he said, “if you don’t -believe me, just lay this dead child on the fire, and we’ll see what -will happen.” - -So she made down a good fire, and took the dead child in her arms, and -laid it on the hot turf, saying, “Burn, burn, burn—if of the devil, -burn; but if of God and the Saints, be safe from harm.” And the child -no sooner felt the fire than it sprang up the chimney with a cry and -disappeared. - - -THE LADY WITCH. - - -About a hundred years ago there lived a woman in Joyce County, of whom -all the neighbours were afraid, for she had always plenty of money, -though no one knew how she came by it; and the best of eating and -drinking went on at her house, chiefly at night—meat and fowls and -Spanish wines in plenty for all comers. And when people asked how it -all came, she laughed and said, “I have paid for it,” but would tell -them no more. - -So the word went through the county that she had sold herself to the -Evil One, and could have everything she wanted by merely wishing and -willing, and because of her riches they called her “The Lady Witch.” - -She never went out but at night, and then always with a bridle and whip -in her hand; and the sound of a horse galloping was heard often far on -in the night along the roads near her house. - -Then a strange story was whispered about, that if a young man drank -of her Spanish wines at supper and afterwards fell asleep, she would -throw the bridle over him and change him to a horse, and ride him all -over the country, and whatever she touched with her whip became hers. -Fowls, or butter, or wine, or the new-made cakes—she had but to wish -and will and they were carried by spirit hands to her house, and laid -in her larder. Then when the ride was done, and she had gathered enough -through the country of all she wanted, she took the bridle off the -young man, and he came back to his own shape and fell asleep; and when -he awoke he had no knowledge of all that had happened, and the Lady -Witch bade him come again and drink of her Spanish wines as often as it -pleased him. - -Now there was a fine brave young fellow in the neighbourhood, and he -determined to make out the truth of the story. So he often went back -and forwards, and made friends with the Lady Witch, and sat down to -talk to her, but always on the watch. And she took a great fancy to him -and told him he must come to supper some night, and she would give him -the best of everything, and he must taste her Spanish wine. - -So she named the night, and he went gladly, for he was filled with -curiosity. And when he arrived there was a beautiful supper laid, and -plenty of wine to drink; and he ate and drank, but was cautious about -the wine, and spilled it on the ground from his glass when her head was -turned away. Then he pretended to be very sleepy, and she said— - -“My son, you are weary. Lie down there on the bench and sleep, for the -night is far spent, and you are far from your home.” - -So he lay down as if he were quite dead with sleep, and closed his -eyes, but watched her all the time. - -And she came over in a little while and looked at him steadily, but he -never stirred, only breathed the more heavily. - -Then she went softly and took the bridle from the wall, and stole over -to fling it over his head; but he started up, and, seizing the bridle, -threw it over the woman, who was immediately changed into a spanking -grey mare. And he led her out and jumped on her back and rode away as -fast as the wind till he came to the forge. - -“Ho, smith,” he cried, “rise up and shoe my mare, for she is weary -after the journey.” - -And the smith got up and did his work as he was bid, well and strong. -Then the young man mounted again, and rode back like the wind to -the house of the Witch; and there he took off the bridle, and she -immediately regained her own form, and sank down in a deep sleep. - -But as the shoes had been put on at the forge without saying the proper -form of words, they remained on her hands and feet, and no power on -earth could remove them. - -So she never rose from her bed again, and died not long after of grief -and shame. And not one in the whole country would follow the coffin of -the Lady Witch to the grave; and the bridle was burned with fire, and -of all her riches nothing was left but a handful of ashes, and this was -flung to the four points of earth and the four winds of heaven; so the -enchantment was broken and the power of the Evil One ended. - - -ETHNA THE BRIDE. - - -The fairies, as we know, are greatly attracted by the beauty of mortal -women, and Finvarra the king employs his numerous sprites to find out -and carry off when possible the prettiest girls and brides in the -country. These are spirited away by enchantment to his fairy palace at -Knockma in Tuam, where they remain under a fairy spell, forgetting all -about the earthly life and soothed to passive enjoyment, as in a sweet -dream, by the soft low melody of the fairy music, which has the power -to lull the hearer into a trance of ecstasy. - -There was once a great lord in that part of the country who had a -beautiful wife called Ethna, the loveliest bride in all the land. And -her husband was so proud of her that day after day he had festivals -in her honour; and from morning till night his castle was filled with -lords and ladies, and nothing but music and dancing and feasting and -hunting and pleasure was thought of. - -One evening while the feast was merriest, and Ethna floated through -the dance in her robe of silver gossamer clasped with jewels, more -bright and beautiful than the stars in heaven, she suddenly let go the -hand of her partner and sank to the floor in a faint. - -They carried her to her room, where she lay long quite insensible; but -towards the morning she woke up and declared that she had passed the -night in a beautiful palace, and was so happy that she longed to sleep -again and go there in her dreams. And they watched by her all day, -but when the shades of evening fell dark on the castle, low music was -heard at her window, and Ethna again fell into a deep trance from which -nothing could rouse her. - -Then her old nurse was set to watch her; but the woman grew weary in -the silence and fell asleep, and never awoke till the sun had risen. -And when she looked towards the bed, she saw to her horror that the -young bride had disappeared. The whole household was roused up at once, -and search made everywhere, but no trace of her could be found in all -the castle, nor in the gardens, nor in the park. Her husband sent -messengers in every direction, but to no purpose—no one had seen her; -no sign of her could be found, living or dead. - -Then the young lord mounted his swiftest steed and galloped right off -to Knockma, to question Finvarra, the fairy king, if he could give -any tidings of the bride, or direct him where to search for her; for -he and Finvarra were friends, and many a good keg of Spanish wine had -been left outside the window of the castle at night for the fairies to -carry away, by order of the young lord. But he little dreamed now that -Finvarra himself was the traitor; so he galloped on like mad till he -reached Knockma, the hill of the fairies. - -And as he stopped to rest his horse by the fairy rath, he heard voices -in the air above him, and one said— - -“Right glad is Finvarra now, for he has the beautiful bride in his -palace at last; and never more will she see her husband’s face.” - -“Yet,” answered another, “if he dig down through the hill to the centre -of the earth, he would find his bride; but the work is hard and the way -is difficult, and Finvarra has more power than any mortal man.” - -“That is yet to be seen,” exclaimed the young lord. “Neither fairy, -nor devil, nor Finvarra himself shall stand between me and my fair -young wife;” and on the instant he sent word by his servants to gather -together all the workmen and labourers of the country round with their -spades and pickaxes, to dig through the hill till they came to the -fairy palace. - -And the workmen came, a great crowd of them, and they dug through the -hill all that day till a great deep trench was made down to the very -centre. Then at sunset they left off for the night; but next morning -when they assembled again to continue their work, behold, all the clay -was put back again into the trench, and the hill looked as if never a -spade had touched it—for so Finvarra had ordered; and he was powerful -over earth and air and sea. - -But the young lord had a brave heart, and he made the men go on with -the work; and the trench was dug again, wide and deep into the centre -of the hill. And this went on for three days, but always with the same -result, for the clay was put back again each night and the hill looked -the same as before, and they were no nearer to the fairy palace. - -Then the young lord was ready to die for rage and grief, but suddenly -he heard a voice near him like a whisper in the air, and the words it -said were these— - -“Sprinkle the earth you have dug up with salt, and your work will be -safe.” - -On this new life came into his heart, and he sent word through all the -country to gather salt from the people; and the clay was sprinkled with -it that night, when the men had left off their work at the hill. - -Next morning they all rose up early in great anxiety to see what had -happened, and there to their great joy was the trench all safe, just as -they had left it, and all the earth round it was untouched. - -Then the young lord knew he had power over Finvarra, and he bade the -men work on with a good heart, for they would soon reach the fairy -palace now in the centre of the hill. So by the next day a great glen -was cut right through deep down to the middle of the earth, and they -could hear the fairy music if they put their ear close to the ground, -and voices were heard round them in the air. - -“See now,” said one, “Finvarra is sad, for if one of those mortal men -strike a blow on the fairy palace with their spades, it will crumble to -dust, and fade away like the mist.” - -“Then let Finvarra give up the bride,” said another, “and we shall be -safe.” - -On which the voice of Finvarra himself was heard, clear like the note -of a silver bugle through the hill. - -“Stop your work,” he said. “Oh, men of earth, lay down your spades, and -at sunset the bride shall be given back to her husband. I, Finvarra, -have spoken.” - -Then the young lord bade them stop the work, and lay down their spades -till the sun went down. And at sunset he mounted his great chestnut -steed and rode to the head of the glen, and watched and waited; and -just as the red light flushed all the sky, he saw his wife coming along -the path in her robe of silver gossamer, more beautiful than ever; and -he sprang from the saddle and lifted her up before him, and rode away -like the storm wind back to the castle. And there they laid Ethna on -her bed; but she closed her eyes and spake no word. So day after day -passed, and still she never spake or smiled, but seemed like one in a -trance. - -And great sorrow fell upon every one, for they feared she had eaten of -the fairy food, and that the enchantment would never be broken. So her -husband was very miserable. But one evening as he was riding home late, -he heard voices in the air, and one of them said— - -“It is now a year and a day since the young lord brought home his -beautiful wife from Finvarra; but what good is she to him? She is -speechless and like one dead; for her spirit is with the fairies though -her form is there beside him.” - -Then another voice answered— - -“And so she will remain unless the spell is broken. He must unloose the -girdle from her waist that is fastened with an enchanted pin, and burn -the girdle with fire, and throw the ashes before the door, and bury -the enchanted pin in the earth; then will her spirit come back from -Fairy-land, and she will once more speak and have true life.” - -Hearing this the young lord at once set spurs to his horse, and on -reaching the castle hastened to the room where Ethna lay on her couch -silent and beautiful like a waxen figure. Then, being determined to -test the truth of the spirit voices, he untied the girdle, and after -much difficulty extracted the enchanted pin from the folds. But still -Ethna spoke no word; then he took the girdle and burned it with fire, -and strewed the ashes before the door, and he buried the enchanted -pin in a deep hole in the earth, under a fairy thorn, that no hand -might disturb the spot. After which he returned to his young wife, who -smiled as she looked at him, and held forth her hand. Great was his -joy to see the soul coming back to the beautiful form, and he raised -her up and kissed her; and speech and memory came back to her at that -moment, and all her former life, just as if it had never been broken -or interrupted; but the year that her spirit had passed in Fairy-land -seemed to her but as a dream of the night, from which she had just -awoke. - -After this Finvarra made no further efforts to carry her off; but the -deep cut in the hill remains to this day, and is called “The Fairy’s -Glen.” So no one can doubt the truth of the story as here narrated. - - -THE FAIRIES’ REVENGE. - - -The fairies have a great objection to the fairy raths, where they meet -at night, being built upon by mortal man. A farmer called Johnstone, -having plenty of money, bought some land, and chose a beautiful green -spot to build a house on, the very spot the fairies loved best. - -The neighbours warned him that it was a fairy rath; but he laughed and -never minded (for he was from the north), and looked at such things -as mere old-wives’ tales. So he built the house and made it beautiful -to live in; and no people in the country were so well off as the -Johnstones, so that the people said the farmer must have found a pot of -gold in the fairy rath. - -But the fairies were all the time plotting how they could punish the -farmer for taking away their dancing ground, and for cutting down the -hawthorn bush where they held their revels when the moon was full. And -one day when the cows were milking, a little old woman in a blue cloak -came to Mrs. Johnstone and asked her for a porringer of milk. - -“Go away,” said the mistress of the house, “you shall have no milk from -me. I’ll have no tramps coming about my place.” And she told the farm -servants to chase her away. - -Some time after, the best and finest of the cows sickened and gave no -milk, and lost her horns and teeth and finally died. - -Then one day as Mrs. Johnstone was sitting spinning flax in the -parlour, the same little woman in the blue cloak suddenly stood before -her. - -“Your maids are baking cakes in the kitchen,” she said; “give me some -off the griddle to carry away with me.” - -“Go out of this,” cried the farmer’s wife, angrily; “you are a wicked -old wretch, and have poisoned my best cow.” And she bade the farm -servants drive her off with sticks. - -Now the Johnstones had one only child; a beautiful bright boy, as -strong as a young colt, and as full of life and merriment. But soon -after this he began to grow queer and strange, and was disturbed in -his sleep; for he said the fairies came round him at night and pinched -and beat him, and some sat on his chest and he could neither breathe -nor move. And they told him they would never leave him in peace unless -he promised to give them a supper every night of a griddle cake and a -porringer of milk. So to soothe the child the mother had these things -laid every night on a table beside his bed, and in the morning they -were gone. - -But still the child pined away, and his eyes got a strange, wild look, -as if he saw nothing near or around him, only something far, far away -that troubled his spirit. And when they asked him what ailed him, he -said the fairies carried him away to the hills every night, where he -danced and danced with them till the morning, when they brought him -back and laid him again in his bed. - -At last the farmer and his wife were at their wits’ end from grief and -despair, for the child was pining away before their eyes, and they -could do nothing for him to help him. One night he cried out in great -agony— - -“Mother! mother! send for the priest to take away the fairies, for they -are killing me; they are here on my chest, crushing me to death,” and -his eyes were wild with terror. - -Now the farmer and his wife believed in no fairies, and in no priest, -but to soothe the child they did as he asked and sent for the priest, -who prayed over him and sprinkled him with holy water. - -The poor little fellow seemed calmer as the priest prayed, and he said -the fairies were leaving him and going away, and then he sank into a -quiet sleep. But when he woke in the morning he told his parents that -he had a beautiful dream and was walking in a lovely garden with the -angels; and he knew it was heaven, and that he would be there before -night, for the angels told him they would come for him. - -Then they watched by the sick child all through the night, for they -saw the fever was still on him, but hoped a change would come before -morning; for he now slept quite calmly with a smile on his lips. - -But just as the clock struck midnight he awoke and sat up, and when his -mother put her arms round him weeping, he whispered to her—“The angels -are here, mother,” and then he sank back, and so died. - -Now after this calamity the farmer never held up his head. He ceased -to mind his farm, and the crops went to ruin and the cattle died, and -finally before a year and a day were over he was laid in the grave by -the side of his little son; and the land passed into other hands, and -as no one would live in the house it was pulled down. No one, either, -would plant on the rath; so the grass grew again all over it, green -and beautiful, and the fairies danced there once more in the moonlight -as they used to do in the old time, free and happy; and thus the evil -spell was broken for evermore. - -But the people would have nothing to do with the childless mother, -so she went away back to her own people, a broken-hearted, miserable -woman—a warning to all who would arouse the vengeance of the fairies by -interfering with their ancient rights and possessions and privileges. - - -FAIRY HELP. -THE PHOUKA. - - -The Phouka is a friendly being, and often helps the farmer at his work -if he is treated well and kindly. One day a farmer’s son was minding -cattle in the field when something rushed past him like the wind; but -he was not frightened, for he knew it was the Phouka on his way to the -old mill by the moat where the fairies met every night. So he called -out, “Phouka, Phouka! show me what you are like, and I’ll give you my -big coat to keep you warm.” Then a young bull came to him lashing his -tail like mad; but Phadrig threw the coat over him, and in a moment he -was quiet as a lamb, and told the boy to come to the mill that night -when the moon was up, and he would have good luck. - -So Phadrig went, but saw nothing except sacks of corn all lying about -on the ground, for the men had fallen asleep, and no work was done. -Then he lay down also and slept, for he was very tired: and when he -woke up early in the morning there was all the meal ground, though -certainly the men had not done it, for they still slept. And this -happened for three nights, after which Phadrig determined to keep awake -and watch. - -Now there was an old chest in the mill, and he crept into this to hide, -and just looked through the keyhole to see what would happen. And -exactly at midnight six little fellows came in, each carrying a sack -of corn upon his back; and after them came an old man in tattered rags -of clothes, and he bade them turn the mill, and they turned and turned -till all was ground. - -Then Phadrig ran to tell his father, and the miller determined to watch -the next night with his son, and both together saw the same thing -happen. - -“Now,” said the farmer, “I see it is the Phouka’s work, and let him -work if it pleases him, for the men are idle and lazy and only sleep. -So I’ll pack the whole set off to-morrow, and leave the grinding of the -corn to this excellent old Phouka.” - -After this the farmer grew so rich that there was no end to his money, -for he had no men to pay, and all his corn was ground without his -spending a penny. Of course the people wondered much over his riches, -but he never told them about the Phouka, or their curiosity would have -spoiled the luck. - -Now Phadrig went often to the mill and hid in the chest that he might -watch the fairies at work; but he had great pity for the poor old -Phouka in his tattered clothes, who yet directed everything and had -hard work of it sometimes keeping the little Phoukas in order. So -Phadrig, out of love and gratitude, bought a fine suit of cloth and -silk and laid it one night on the floor of the mill just where the old -Phouka always stood to give his orders to the little men, and then he -crept into the chest to watch. - -“How is this?” said the Phouka when he saw the clothes. “Are these for -me? I shall be turned into a fine gentleman.” - -And he put them on, and then began to walk up and down admiring -himself. But suddenly he remembered the corn and went to grind as -usual, then stopped and cried out— - -“No, no. No more work for me. Fine gentlemen don’t grind corn. I’ll go -out and see a little of the world and show my fine clothes.” And he -kicked away the old rags into a corner, and went out. - -No corn was ground that night, nor the next, nor the next; all the -little Phoukas ran away, and not a sound was heard in the mill. Then -Phadrig grew very sorry for the loss of his old friend, and used to go -out into the fields and call out, “Phouka, Phouka! come back to me. Let -me see your face.” But the old Phouka never came back, and all his life -long Phadrig never looked on the face of his friend again. However, the -farmer had made so much money that he wanted no more help; and he sold -the mill, and reared up Phadrig to be a great scholar and a gentleman, -who had his own house and land and servants. And in time he married a -beautiful lady, so beautiful that the people said she must be daughter -to the king of the fairies. - -A strange thing happened at the wedding, for when they all stood up to -drink the bride’s health, Phadrig saw beside him a golden cup filled -with wine. And no one knew how the golden cup had come to his hand; but -Phadrig guessed it was the Phouka’s gift, and he drank the wine without -fear and made his bride drink also. And ever after their lives were -happy and prosperous, and the golden cup was kept as a treasure in the -family, and the descendants of Phadrig have it in their possession to -this day. - - -THE FARMER PUNISHED. - - -The fairies, with their free, joyous temperament and love of beauty and -luxury, hold in great contempt the minor virtues of thrift and economy, -and, above all things, abhor the close, hard, niggardly nature that -spends grudgingly and never gives freely. Indeed, they seem to hold it -as their peculiar mission to punish such people, and make them suffer -for the sins of the hard heart and niggard hand, as may be seen by the -following tale:— - -A farmer once lived near the Boyne, close to an old churchyard. He was -very rich, and had crops and cattle, but was so hard and avaricious -that the people hated him; for his habit was to get up very early -in the morning and go out to the fields to watch that no one took a -cabbage or a turnip, or got a cup of milk when the cows were being -milked, for the love of God and the saints. - -One morning, as he was out as usual by sunrise spying about the place, -he heard a child crying bitterly— - -“Oh, mother, mother! I am hungry. Give me something, or I’ll die.” - -“Hush, darling,” said the mother, “though the hunger is on you, wait; -for the farmer’s cow will be milked presently, and I’ll knock down the -pail so the milk will be spilt upon the ground, and you can drink your -fill.”[6] - - [6] The fairies have a right to whatever is spilt or falls upon the - ground. - -When the farmer heard this he sent a stout man to watch the girl that -milked, and to tie the cow’s feet that she should not kick. So that -time no milk was spilled upon the ground. - -Next morning he went out again by sunrise, and he heard the child -crying more bitterly even than before— - -“Mother, mother! I am hungry. Give me to eat.” - -“Wait, my child,” said the mother; “the farmer’s maid bakes cakes -to-day, and I’ll make the dish to fall just as she is carrying them -from the griddle. So we shall have plenty to eat this time.” - -Then the farmer went home and locked up the meal, and said— - -“No cakes shall be baked to-day, not till the night.” - -But the cry of the child was in his ears, and he could not rest. So -early in the morning he was out again, and bitter was the cry of the -child as he passed the copse— - -“Mother, mother!” it said, “I have had no milk, I have had no cake; let -me lay down my head on your breast and die.” - -“Wait,” said the mother, “some one will die before you, my darling. Let -the old man look to his son, for he will be killed in battle before -many days are over; and then the curse will be lifted from the poor, -and we shall have food in plenty.” - -But the farmer laughed. “There is no war in Ireland now,” he said to -himself. “How then can my son be killed in battle?” And he went home -to his own house, and there in the courtyard was his son cleaning -his spear and sharpening his arrows. He was a comely youth, tall and -slender as a young oak-tree, and his brown hair fell in long curls over -his shoulders. - -“Father,” he said, “I am summoned by the king, for he is at war with -the other kings. So give me the swiftest horse you have, for I must -be off to-night to join the king’s men. And see, I have my spears and -arrows ready.” - -Now at that time in Ireland there were four great kings, and each of -them had two deputies. And the king of Leinster made a great feast -for the deputies, and to seven of them he gave a brooch of gold each, -but to the eighth only a brooch of silver, for, he said, the man is -not a prince like the others. Then the eighth deputy was angry, and he -struck the king’s page full in the face for handing him the brooch. On -this all the knights sprang up and drew their swords, and some took one -part and some another, and there was a great fight in the hall. And -afterwards the four kings quarrelled, and the king of Leinster sent out -messengers to bid all his people come to help him. So the farmer’s son -got the message as well as the others, and he made ready at once to -join the battle with a proud heart for the sake of the king and a young -man’s love of adventure. - -Then the farmer was filled with rage. - -“This is the wicked work of the witch woman,” he said; “but as I would -not give her the milk to spill, nor the cakes when baked, so I will not -give her the life of my only son.” - -And he took large stones and built up great walls the height of a man, -round a hut, and set a great stone at the top to close it, only leaving -places for a vessel of food to be handed down. And he placed the lad -within the hut. - -“Now,” he said, “the king shall not have him, nor the king’s men; he is -safe from the battle and the spears of the warriors.” - -So the next morning he rose up quite content, and was out at sunrise as -usual; and as he walked by the churchyard, he heard the child laughing. -And the mother said— - -“Child, you laugh by a grave. For the farmer’s son will be laid in that -ground before three days are over, and then the curse will be lifted -from the poor. He would not let the milk be spilled, nor the cakes to -be baked, but he cannot keep his son from death. The spell is on him -for evil.” - -Then a voice said— - -“But his father has walled him round in a hut with strong walls, high -as a man. How then can he die in battle?” - -And the woman answered— - -“I climbed the hut last night and gave him nine stones, and bade him -throw them one by one over his left shoulder, and each time a stone -of the wall would fall down, till free space was left him to escape, -and this he did; and before sunrise this morning he fled away, and has -joined the king’s army; but his grave is ready, and in three days he -will be in this ground, for his doom is spoken.” - -When the farmer heard these words, he rushed like mad to the hut, and -called his son by name; but no answer came. Then he climbed up and -looked in through the hole at the top, but no sign of his son was -there. And he wrung his hands in despair, and went home and spake no -word, but sat moaning with his head buried in his hands. - -And on the third day he heard the steps of men outside, and he rose up, -for he knew they were bearing the body of his dead son to the door. And -he went out to meet them, and there lay the corpse of the young man on -the bier, pale and beautiful, struck through and through by a spear, -even as he had died in battle. - -And they laid him in the churchyard, just as the witch-woman had -foretold, while all the people wept, for the young man was noble to -look upon, and of a good and upright spirit. - -But the father neither spoke nor wept. His mind was gone, and his heart -was broken. And soon he lay down and died, unpitied by all; for he -was hard and cruel in his life, and no man wept for him; and all the -riches he had gathered by grinding down the poor melted away, and his -race perished from the land, and his name was heard of no more, and no -blessing rested on his memory. - - -THE FARMER’S WIFE. - - -Down in the South there lived another rich farmer and his wife, who -were both of them hated by the people for their stingy, hard-hearted -ways. Never a word of kindness was on their lips, and never a blessing -from the poor was invoked on their heads. - -One day an old woman came to the door to beg a little food—a cake from -the griddle, or a few potatoes, or a handful of meal; but she was -harshly refused by the farmer’s wife and turned away. - -Then she came back in a little while, and begged for a drink of milk, -for she was faint and weary, she said, and had travelled far. This was -also refused, and she was ordered to leave the place at once. But the -woman still begged hard for leave to rest herself a little, and for -even a drink of butter milk, for it was churning day and she knew there -must be plenty in the house. Then the farmer’s wife grew very angry, -and said she would turn the dogs on her if she didn’t go away, and -that no tramp should get anything from her. On this the woman muttered -some words, with her hand on the lintel of the door, and then went her -way. Soon after, being much heated by the violence of her anger, the -farmer’s wife went to the dairy for a drink; but as she poured out -the draught she saw something black in the cup, and she tried to take -it out with her finger, but it always escaped her. Then, being very -thirsty, she drank off the milk, and still another and another cup, -and in the drinking the black object disappeared. That night, however, -she felt nigh to death, for her body began to swell, and turned black -all over. Medical aid was sent for, but the doctor could make out -nothing of the cause or nature of the strange disease. Then the priest -was summoned, and he at once, having heard the story, said there was -witchcraft in it; and he proceeded to pray, and to exorcise the evil -spirit in the woman. Besides this he made her be placed in a hot bath, -into which he poured some holy water. - -At first the woman uttered fierce cries, and said her body seemed rent -and torn; but gradually she became calmer, and the blackness slowly -went down from head to feet, and finally disappeared, leaving the body -fair and whole, all except one hand, and this remained still as black -as ink. The holy water was poured on it, and the priest prayed, but -nothing would remove the devil’s mark. - -So the priest told her at last that the blackness would remain as a -sign and token of her sins against the poor; and from that day forth -to her death the mark of the evil spell remained on her, but she grew -kinder to the poor, for her heart was shaken by terror. And when she -came to die there was no blackness on her hand, for the tears of the -poor she had succoured and befriended had washed all the devil’s mark -away, before the moment came when her soul was to appear before God. - - -THE MIDNIGHT RIDE. -A PEASANT’S TALE. - - -One evening a man called Shawn Ruadh was out looking for a red cow that -had strayed away, when he heard voices round him, and one said “Get me -a horse,” and another cried “Get me a horse.” - -“And get me a horse, too,” said Shawn, “since they seem so plenty, for -I’d like a ride along with you,” and with that he found himself on the -instant mounted on a fine grey horse beside another man who rode a -black horse. And they rode away and away till they came to a great city. - -“Now, do you know where you are?” said the black horseman. “You are in -London, and whatever you want you can have.” - -“Thank you kindly, my friend,” said the other, “so, with your leave, -I’ll just have a good suit of clothes, for I’m much in want of that -same. Can I have them?” - -“By all means,” said the black horseman; “there, go into that -merchant’s shop and ask for what you like, and if he refuses just throw -the stone I give you on the floor and the whole place will seem on -fire. But don’t be frightened; only wait your good luck.” - -So Shawn went into the biggest shop there, and he spoke to the merchant -quite stiff and proud. - -“Show me the best suit of clothes you have,” said he. “Never mind the -price, that’s of no consequence, only be very particular as to the fit.” - -But the shopman laughed aloud. - -“We don’t make clothes for beggars like you,” he said. “Be off out of -this.” - -Then Shawn threw down the stone on the floor, and immediately the whole -place seemed on fire, and the merchant ran out himself and all the -shopmen after him to get pails of water, and Shawn laughed when he saw -them all drenched. - -“Now what will you give me,” said he, “if I put out the fire for you?” - -“You shall have the price of the best suit of clothes in the shop,” -answered the merchant, “all paid down in gold; only help me to put out -the fire.” - -So Shawn stooped down and picked up the stone, and put it quietly into -his pocket, and instantly all the flames disappeared: and the merchant -was so grateful that he paid him down all the gold for the clothes and -more. And Shawn bid him good-night, and mounted the grey steed again -quite happy in himself. - -“Now,” said the black horseman, “is there anything else you desire? for -it is near ten o’clock, and we must be back by midnight; so just say -what you would like to do.” - -“Well,” said Shawn Ruadh, “I would like of all things to see the Pope -of Rome, for two of our priests are disputing as to who is to get -the parish, and I want Father M’Grath to have it, for I have a great -opinion of him, and if I ask his Holiness he’ll settle it all in no -time and for ever.” - -“Come then,” said the black horseman; “it is a long way to Rome, -certainly, but I think we’ll manage it in the two hours, and be back -before twelve o’clock.” - -So away they rode like the wind, and in no time Shawn found himself -before the great palace of the Pope; and all the grand servants with -gold sticks in their hands stared at him, and asked him what he wanted. - -“Just go in,” said he, “and tell his Holiness that Shawn Ruadh, all the -way from Ireland, is here and wants to see him very particularly.” - -But the servants laughed, and struck him with their gold sticks and -hunted him away from the gate. Now the Pope hearing the rout looked out -of the window, and seeing Shawn Ruadh he came down and asked him what -he wanted. - -“Just this, your Holiness,” answered Shawn, “I want a letter on behalf -of Father M’Grath bidding the Bishop give him the parish, and I’ll -wait till your Holiness writes it; and meanwhile let me have a little -supper, for it’s hungry I am after my long ride.” - -Then the Pope laughed, and told the servants to drive the fellow away, -for he was evidently out of his wits. - -So Shawn grew angry, and flung down the stone on the floor, and -instantly all the palace seemed on fire, and the Pope ordered the grand -servants to go for water; and they had to run about like mad getting -pails and jugs of water, whatever they could lay hands on; and all -their fine clothes were spoiled, and the beautiful gold sticks were -flung away in their fright, while they took the jugs and splashed and -dashed the water over each other. - -Now it was Shawn’s turn to laugh till his sides ached, but his Holiness -looked very grave. - -“Well,” said Shawn, “if I put out the fire what will you do for me? -Will you write that letter?” - -“Ay, I will,” said the Pope, “and you shall have your supper also; only -help us to put out the fire, my fine fellow.” - -So Shawn quietly put the stone back in his pocket, and instantly all -the flames disappeared. - -“Now,” said the Pope, “you shall have supper of the best in the palace; -and I’ll write a letter to the Bishop ordering him to give Father -M’Grath the parish. And here, besides, is a purse of gold for yourself, -and take it with my blessing.” - -Then he ordered all the grand servants to get supper for the excellent -young man from Ireland, and to make him comfortable. So Shawn was -mightily pleased, and ate and drank like a prince. Then he mounted his -grey steed again, and just as midnight struck he found himself at his -own door, but all alone; for the grey steed and the black horseman had -both vanished. But there stood his wife crying her eyes out and in -great trouble. - -“O Shawn, Agra! I thought you were dead or that evil had fallen on you.” - -“Not a bit of it,” said Shawn, “I’ve been supping with the Pope of -Rome, and look here at all the gold I’ve brought home for you, my -darlint.” - -And he put his hand in his pocket to get the purse; but lo! there was -nothing there except a rough, grey stone. And from that hour to this -his wife believes that he dreamed the whole story as he lay under the -hay-rick, on his way home from a carouse with the boys. - -However, Father M’Grath got the parish, and Shawn took good care to -tell him how he had spoken up boldly for him to the Pope of Rome, and -made his Holiness write the letter to the Bishop about him. And Father -M’Grath was a nice gentleman, and he smiled and told Shawn he thanked -him kindly for his good word. - - -THE LEPREHAUN.[7] - - -The Leprehauns are merry, industrious, tricksy little sprites, who do -all the shoemaker’s work and the tailor’s and the cobbler’s for the -fairy gentry, and are often seen at sunset under the hedge singing -and stitching. They know all the secrets of hidden treasure, and if -they take a fancy to a person will guide him to the spot in the fairy -rath where the pot of gold lies buried. It is believed that a family -now living near Castlerea came by their riches in a strange way, all -through the good offices of a friendly Leprehaun. And the legend has -been handed down through many generations as an established fact. - - [7] Leprehaun, or _Leith Brogan_, means the “Artisan of the Brogae.” - -There was a poor boy once, one of their forefathers, who used to drive -his cart of turf daily back and forward, and make what money he could -by the sale; but he was a strange boy, very silent and moody, and the -people said he was a fairy changeling, for he joined in no sports and -scarcely ever spoke to any one, but spent the nights reading all the -old bits of books he picked up in his rambles. The one thing he longed -for above all others was to get rich, and to be able to give up the -old weary turf cart, and live in peace and quietness all alone, with -nothing but books round him, in a beautiful house and garden all by -himself. - -Now he had read in the old books how the Leprehauns knew all the secret -places where gold lay hid, and day by day he watched for a sight of the -little cobbler, and listened for the click, click of his hammer as he -sat under the hedge mending the shoes. - -At last, one evening just as the sun set, he saw a little fellow under -a dock leaf, working away, dressed all in green, with a cocked hat on -his head. So the boy jumped down from the cart and seized him by the -neck. - -“Now, you don’t stir from this,” he cried, “till you tell me where to -find the hidden gold.” - -“Easy now,” said the Leprehaun, “don’t hurt me, and I will tell you all -about it. But mind you, I could hurt you if I chose, for I have the -power; but I won’t do it, for we are cousins once removed. So as we are -near relations I’ll just be good, and show you the place of the secret -gold that none can have or keep except those of fairy blood and race. -Come along with me, then, to the old fort of Lipenshaw, for there it -lies. But make haste, for when the last red glow of the sun vanishes -the gold will disappear also, and you will never find it again.” - -“Come off, then,” said the boy, and he carried the Leprehaun into the -turf cart, and drove off. And in a second they were at the old fort, -and went in through a door made in the stone wall. - -“Now, look round,” said the Leprehaun; and the boy saw the whole ground -covered with gold pieces, and there were vessels of silver lying about -in such plenty that all the riches of all the world seemed gathered -there. - -“Now take what you want,” said the Leprehaun, “but hasten, for if that -door shuts you will never leave this place as long as you live.” - -So the boy gathered up his arms full of gold and silver, and flung them -into the cart; and was on his way back for more when the door shut with -a clap like thunder, and all the place became dark as night. And he saw -no more of the Leprehaun, and had not time even to thank him. - -So he thought it best to drive home at once with his treasure, and when -he arrived and was all alone by himself he counted his riches, and all -the bright yellow gold pieces, enough for a king’s ransom. - -And he was very wise and told no one; but went off next day to Dublin -and put all his treasures into the bank, and found that he was now -indeed as rich as a lord. - -So he ordered a fine house to be built with spacious gardens, and he -had servants and carriages and books to his heart’s content. And he -gathered all the wise men round him to give him the learning of a -gentleman; and he became a great and powerful man in the country, where -his memory is still held in high honour, and his descendants are living -to this day rich and prosperous; for their wealth has never decreased -though they have ever given largely to the poor, and are noted above -all things for the friendly heart and the liberal hand. - - * * * * * - -But the Leprehauns can be bitterly malicious if they are offended, and -one should be very cautious in dealing with them, and always treat them -with great civility, or they will take revenge and never reveal the -secret of the hidden gold. - -One day a young lad was out in the fields at work when he saw a -little fellow, not the height of his hand, mending shoes under a dock -leaf. And he went over, never taking his eyes off him for fear he -would vanish away; and when he got quite close he made a grab at the -creature, and lifted him up and put him in his pocket. - -Then he ran away home as fast as he could, and when he had the -Leprehaun safe in the house, he tied him by an iron chain to the hob. - -“Now, tell me,” he said, “where am I to find a pot of gold? Let me know -the place or I’ll punish you.” - -“I know of no pot of gold,” said the Leprehaun; “but let me go that I -may finish mending the shoes.” - -“Then I’ll make you tell me,” said the lad. - -And with that he made down a great fire, and put the little fellow on -it and scorched him. - -“Oh, take me off, take me off!” cried the Leprehaun, “and I’ll tell -you. Just there, under the dock leaf, where you found me, there is a -pot of gold. Go; dig and find.” - -So the lad was delighted, and ran to the door; but it so happened that -his mother was just then coming in with the pail of fresh milk, and in -his haste he knocked the pail out of her hand, and all the milk was -spilled on the floor. - -Then, when the mother saw the Leprehaun, she grew very angry and beat -him. “Go away, you little wretch!” she cried. “You have overlooked the -milk and brought ill-luck.” And she kicked him out of the house. - -But the lad ran off to find the dock leaf, though he came back very -sorrowful in the evening, for he had dug and dug nearly down to the -middle of the earth; but no pot of gold was to be seen. - -That same night the husband was coming home from his work, and as he -passed the old fort he heard voices and laughter, and one said— - -“They are looking for a pot of gold; but they little know that a crock -of gold is lying down in the bottom of the old quarry, hid under the -stones close by the garden wall. But whoever gets it must go of a dark -night at twelve o’clock, and beware of bringing his wife with him.” - -So the man hurried home and told his wife he would go that very night, -for it was black dark, and she must stay at home and watch for him, and -not stir from the house till he came back. Then he went out into the -dark night alone. - -“Now,” thought the wife, when he was gone, “if I could only get to the -quarry before him I would have the pot of gold all to myself; while if -he gets it I shall have nothing.” - -And with that she went out and ran like the wind until she reached the -quarry, and than she began to creep down very quietly in the black -dark. But a great stone was in her path, and she stumbled over it, -and fell down and down till she reached the bottom, and there she lay -groaning, for her leg was broken by the fall. - -Just then her husband came to the edge of the quarry and began to -descend. But when he heard the groans he was frightened. - -“Cross of Christ about us!” he exclaimed; “what is that down below? Is -it evil, or is it good?” - -“Oh, come down, come down and help me!” cried the woman. “It’s your -wife is here, and my leg is broken, and I’ll die if you don’t help me.” - -“And is this my pot of gold?” exclaimed the poor man. “Only my wife -with a broken leg lying at the bottom of the quarry.” - -And he was at his wits’ end to know what to do, for the night was so -dark he could not see a hand before him. So he roused up a neighbour, -and between them they dragged up the poor woman and carried her home, -and laid her on the bed half dead from fright, and it was many a day -before she was able to get about as usual; indeed she limped all her -life long, so that the people said the curse of the Leprehaun was on -her. - -But as to the pot of gold, from that day to this not one of the family, -father or son, or any belonging to them, ever set eyes on it. However, -the little Leprehaun still sits under the dock leaf of the hedge and -laughs at them as he mends the shoes with his little hammer—tick tack, -tick tack—but they are afraid to touch him, for now they know he can -take his revenge. - - -LEGENDS OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS. - - -In the islands off the West Coast of Ireland the inhabitants are still -very primitive in their habits, and cling to their old superstitions -with a fanatical fervour that makes it dangerous for any one to -transgress or disregard the old customs, usages, and prejudices of the -islanders. - -Curses heavy and deep would fall on the head of the unbelieving -stranger who dared to laugh or mock at the old traditions of the -ancient pagan creed, whose dogmas are still regarded with a mysterious -awe and dread, and held sacred as a revelation from heaven. - -The chief islands are Aran and Innismore, the latter about nine -miles long. The cattle live on the fine grass of the rocks, and turf -is brought from the mainland. The views are magnificent of sea and -mountain, and the islands contain a greater number of pagan and early -Christian monuments than could be found in the same area in any other -part of Europe. - -Some of the _Duns_ or forts include several acres. The walls are -cyclopean, about sixteen feet thick and from eighteen to twenty feet -high, with steps inside leading to the top. Amongst the monuments are -cromlechs, tumuli, and pillar stones, those earliest memorials set up -by humanity. The Irish call these huge stones _Bothal_, or House of -God, as the Hebrews called them Bethel, or God’s house. - -Dun Ængus, the greatest barbaric monument of the kind in existence, -stands on a cliff three hundred feet above the sea. It is a hundred -and forty-two feet in diameter, and has two cyclopean walls fifteen -feet thick and eighteen high. The sea front measures a thousand feet, -and several acres are included within the outer wall. The roof of the -dun is formed of large flag-stones, and the doorway slopes, after the -Egyptian fashion, up to three feet in width at the top. A causeway of -sharp, upright stones jammed into the ground leads to the entrance. - -This fort was the great and last stronghold of the Firbolg race, and -they long held it as a refuge against the _Tuatha-de-Danann_ invaders, -who at that time conquered and took possession of Ireland. - -All the islands were originally peopled by the Firbolg race many -centuries before the Christian era, and the Irish language, as still -spoken by the people, is the purest and most ancient of all the -dialects of Erin. Afterwards so many Christian saints took up their -abode there that the largest of the islands was called _Ara-na-naomh_ -(Aran of the Saints), and numerous remains of churches, cells, crosses -and stone-roofed oratories, with the ruins of a round tower, testify to -the long habitation of the islands by these holy men. - -There is an old wooden idol on one of the Achil islands called Father -Molosh—probably a corruption of Moloch. In former times offerings and -sacrifices were made to it, and it was esteemed as the guardian or god -of the sacred fire, and held in great reverence, though but a rude -semblance of a human head. Many miracles also were performed by the -tooth of St. Patrick, which fell from the saint’s mouth one day when -he was teaching the alphabet to the new converts. And a shrine was -afterwards made for the tooth that was held in the greatest honour by -the kings, chiefs, and people of Ireland. - -The stupendous barbaric monuments of the islands, according to Irish -antiquarians, offer the best exposition of early military architecture -at present known, and are only equalled by some of those in Greece. -There are also many sacred wells, and the whole region is haunted by -strange, wild superstitions of fairies and demons and witches; legends -filled with a weird and mystic poetry that thrill the soul like a -strain of music from spirit voices coming to us from the far-off elder -world. The following pathetic tale is a good specimen of these ancient -island legends:— - - -THE BRIDE’S DEATH-SONG. - - -On a lone island by the West Coast there dwelt an old fisherman and his -daughter, and the man had power over the water spirits, and he taught -his daughter the charms that bind them to obey. - -One day a boat was driven on the shore, and in it was a young handsome -gentleman, half dead from the cold and the wet. The old fisherman -brought him home and revived him, and Eileen the daughter nursed and -watched him. Naturally the two young people soon fell in love, and the -gentleman told the girl he had a beautiful house on the mainland ready -for her, with plenty of everything she could desire—silks to wear and -gold to spend. So they were betrothed, and the wedding day was fixed. -But Dermot, the lover, said he must first cross to the mainland and -bring back his friends and relations to the wedding, as many as the -boat would hold. - -Eileen wept and prayed him not to leave, or at least to take her to -steer the boat, for she knew there was danger coming, and she alone -could have power over the evil spirits and over the waves and the -winds. But she dared not tell the secret of the spell to Dermot or it -would fail, and the charm be useless for ever after. - -Dermot, however, only laughed at her fears, for the day was bright and -clear, and he scorned all thought of danger. So he put off from the -shore, and reached the mainland safely, and filled the boat with his -friends to return to the island for the wedding. All went well till -they were within sight of the island, when suddenly a fierce gust of -wind drove the boat on a rock, and it was upset, and all who were in it -perished. - -Eileen heard the cry of the drowning men as she stood watching on the -beach, but could give no help. And she was sore grieved for her lover, -and sang a funeral wail for him in Irish, which is still preserved by -the people. Then she lay down and died, and the old man, her father, -disappeared. And from that day no one has ever ventured to live on the -island, for it is haunted by the spirit of Eileen. And the mournful -music of her wail is still heard in the nights when the winds are -strong and the waves beat upon the rocks where the drowned men lay dead. - -The words of the song are very plaintive and simple, and may be -translated literally— - - “I a virgin and a widow mourn for my lover. - Never more will he kiss me on the lips; - The cold wave is his bridal bed, - The cold wave is his wedding shroud. - O love, my love, had you brought me in the boat - My spirit and my spells would have saved from harm. - For my power was strong over waves and wind, - And the spirits of evil would have feared me. - O love, my love, I go to meet you in heaven. - I will ask God to let me see your face. - If the fair angels give me back my lover, - I will not envy the Almighty on His throne.” - - -THE CHILD’S DREAM. - - -The island of Innis-Sark (Shark Island) was a holy and peaceful place -in old times; and so quiet that the pigeons used to come and build in a -great cave by the sea, and no one disturbed them. And the holy saints -of God had a monastery there, to which many people resorted from the -mainland, for the prayers of the monks were powerful against sickness -or evil, or the malice of an enemy. - -Amongst others, there came a great and noble prince out of Munster, -with his wife and children and their nurse; and they were so pleased -with the island that they remained a year or more; for the prince loved -fishing, and often brought his wife along with him. - -One day, while they were both away, the eldest child, a beautiful boy -of ten years old, begged his nurse to let him go and see the pigeons’ -cave, but she refused. - -“Your father would be angry,” she cried, “if you went without leave. -Wait till he comes home, and see if he will allow you.” - -So when the prince returned, the boy told him how he longed to see the -cave, and the father promised to bring him next day. - -The morning was beautiful and the wind fair when they set off. But the -child soon fell asleep in the boat, and never wakened all the time his -father was fishing. The sleep, however, was troubled, and many a time -he started and cried aloud. So the prince thought it better to turn the -boat and land, and then the boy awoke. - -After dinner the father called for the child. “Tell me now,” he said, -“why was your sleep troubled, so that you cried out bitterly in your -dream.” - -“I dreamed,” said the boy, “that I stood upon a high rock, and at the -bottom flowed the sea, but the waves made no noise; and as I looked -down I saw fields and trees and beautiful flowers and bright birds in -the branches, and I longed to go down and pluck the flowers. Then I -heard a voice, saying, ‘Blessed are the souls that come here, for this -is heaven.’ - -“And in an instant I thought I was in the midst of the meadows amongst -the birds and the flowers; and a lovely lady, bright as an angel, came -up to me, and said, ‘What brings you here, dear child; for none but the -dead come here.’ - -“Then she left me, and I wept for her going; when suddenly all the sky -grew black, and a great troop of wild wolves came round me, howling and -opening their mouths wide as if to devour me. And I screamed, and tried -to run, but I could not move, and the wolves came closer, and I fell -down like one dead with fright, when, just then, the beautiful lady -came again, and took my hand and kissed me. - -“‘Fear not,’ she said, ‘take these flowers, they come from heaven. And -I will bring you to the meadow where they grow.’ - -“And she lifted me up into the air, but I know nothing more; for then -the boat stopped and you lifted me on shore, but my beautiful flowers -must have fallen from my hands, for I never saw them more. And this is -all my dream; but I would like to have my flowers again, for the lady -told me they had the secret that would bring me to heaven.” - -The prince thought no more of the child’s dream, but went off to fish -next day as usual, leaving the boy in the care of his nurse. And again -the child begged and prayed her so earnestly to bring him to the -pigeons’ cave, that at last she consented; but told him he must not go -a step by himself, and she would bring two of the boys of the island to -take care of him. - -So they set off, the child and his little sister with the nurse. And -the boy gathered wild flowers for his sister, and ran down to the -edge of the cave where the cormorants were swimming; but there was no -danger, for the two young islanders were minding him. - -So the nurse was content, and being weary she fell asleep. And the -little sister lay down beside her, and fell asleep likewise. - -Then the boy called to his companions, the two young islanders, and -told them he must catch the cormorants. So away they ran, down the -path to the sea, hand in hand, and laughing as they went. Just then a -piece of rock loosened and fell beside them, and trying to avoid it -they slipped over the edge of the narrow path down a steep place, where -there was nothing to hold on by except a large bush, in the middle of -the way. They got hold of this, and thought they were now quite safe, -but the bush was not strong enough to bear their weight, and it was -torn up by the roots. And all three fell straight down into the sea and -were drowned. - -Now, at the sound of the great cry that came up from the waves, the -nurse awoke, but saw no one. Then she woke up the little sister. “It is -late,” she cried, “they must have gone home. We have slept too long, it -is already evening; let us hasten and overtake them, before the prince -is back from the fishing.” - -But when they reached home the prince stood in the doorway. And he was -very pale, and weeping. - -“Where is my brother?” cried the little girl. - -“You will never see your brother more,” answered the prince. And -from that day he never went fishing any more, but grew silent and -thoughtful, and was never seen to smile. And in a short time he and his -family quitted the island, never to return. - -But the nurse remained. And some say she became a saint, for she -was always seen praying and weeping by the entrance to the great sea -cave. And one day, when they came to look for her, she lay dead on the -rocks. And in her hand she held some beautiful strange flowers freshly -gathered, with the dew on them. And no one knew how the flowers came -into her dead hand. Only some fishermen told the story of how the -night before they had seen a bright fairy child seated on the rocks -singing; and he had a red sash tied round his waist, and a golden -circlet binding his long yellow hair. And they all knew that he was -the prince’s son, who had been drowned in that spot just a twelvemonth -before. And the people believe that he had brought the flowers from the -spirit-land to the woman, and given them to her as a death sign, and a -blessed token from God that her soul would be taken to heaven. - - -THE FAIRY CHILD. - - -An ancient woman living at Innis-Sark said that in her youth she knew a -young woman who had been married for five years, but had no children. -And her husband was a rough, rude fellow, and used to taunt her and -beat her often, because she was childless. But in the course of time -it came to pass that a man-child was born to her; and he was beautiful -to look on as an angel from heaven. And the father was so proud of the -child that he often stayed at home to rock the cradle, and help his -wife at the work. - -One day, however, as he rocked the cradle, the child looked up suddenly -at him, and lo! there was a great beard on its face. Then the father -cried out to his wife— - -“This is not a child, but a demon! You have put an evil spell on him.” - -And he struck her and beat her worse than ever he had done in his life -before, so that she screamed aloud for help. On this the place grew -quite dark, and thunder rolled over their heads, and the door flew wide -open with a great crash, and in walked two strange women, with red caps -on their heads and stout sticks in their hands. And they rushed at the -man, and one held his arms while the other beat him till he was nearly -dead. - -“We are the avengers,” they said; “look on us and tremble; for if you -ever beat your wife again, we will come and kill you. Kneel down now, -and ask her pardon.” - -And when the poor wretch did so, all trembling with fright, they -vanished away. - -“Now,” said the man, when they were gone, “this house is no fit place -for me. I’ll leave it for ever.” - -So he went his way, and troubled his wife no more. - -Then the child sat up in the cradle. - -“Now, mother,” says he, “since that man has gone, I’ll tell you what -you are to do. There is a holy well near this that you have never seen, -but you will know it by the bunch of green rushes that grows over the -mouth. Go there and stoop down and cry out aloud three times, and an -old woman will come up, and whatever you want she will give it to you. -Only tell no one of the well or of the woman, or evil will come of it.” - -So the mother promised, and went to the well, and cried out three -times; and an old woman came up, and said— - -“Woman, why dost thou call me?” - -And the poor mother was afraid, and answered all trembling— - -“The child sent me, and I pray thee to do me good, and not evil.” - -“Come down, then, with me into the well,” said the woman, “and have no -fear.” - -So the mother held out her hand, and the other drew her down a flight -of stone steps, and then they came to a massive closed door, and the -old woman unlocked it and bade her enter. But the mother was afraid, -and wept. - -“Enter,” said the other, “and fear nothing. For this is the gate of the -king’s palace, and you will see the queen of the fairies herself, for -it is her son you are nursing; and the king, her husband, is with her -on his golden throne. And have no fear, only ask no questions, and do -as they order.” - -Then they entered into a beautiful hall, and the floor was of marble, -and the walls were of solid gold, and a great light shone over -everything, so that the eyes could hardly see for the light. Then they -passed on into another room, and at the end of it, on a golden throne, -sat the king of the fairies. He was very handsome, and beside him sat -his queen, fair and beautiful to look upon, all clad in silver. - -“This, madam, is the nurse of your son, the young prince,” said the old -woman. - -The queen smiled, and bade the nurse to sit down, and asked her how she -came to know of the place. - -“My son it is who told her,” said the king, looking very angry. - -But the queen soothed him, and turning to one of her ladies, said— - -“Bring here the other child.” - -Then the lady brought in an infant, and placed him in the arms of the -mother. - -“Take him,” said the queen, “he is your own child, that we carried -away, for he was so beautiful; and the boy you have at home is mine, -a little elfish imp. Still, I want him back, and I have sent a man to -bring him here; and you may take your own lovely child home in safety, -for the fairy blessings are on him for good. And the man that beat you -was not your husband at all, but our messenger, that we sent to change -the children. So now go back, and you will find your own true husband -at home in your own place, watching and waiting for you by day and by -night.” - -With that the door opened, and the man who had beaten her came in; and -the mother trembled and was afraid. But the man laughed, and told her -not to fear, but to eat what was set before her, and then to go in -peace. - -So they brought her to another hall, where was a table covered with -golden dishes and beautiful flowers, and red wine in crystal cups. - -“Eat,” they said; “this feast has been prepared for you. As to us, we -cannot touch it, for the food has been sprinkled with salt.” - -So she ate, and drank of the red wine, and never in all her life were -so many things set before her that were lovely and good. And, as was -right and proper, after dinner was over, she stood up, and folded her -hands together to give God thanks. But they stopped her, and drew her -down. - -“Hush!” they said, “that name is not to be named here.” - -There was an angry murmur in the hall. But just then beautiful music -was heard, and singing like the singing of priests, and the poor mother -was so enchanted that she fell on her face as one dead. And when she -came to herself it was noonday, and she was standing by the door of -her own house. And her husband came out and took her by the hand, and -brought her in. And there was her child, more beautiful than ever, as -handsome as a young prince. - -“Where have you been all this while?” asked the husband. - -“It is only an hour since I went away, to look for my child, that the -fairies stole from me,” she answered. - -“An hour!” said the husband; “you have been three years away with -your child! And when you were gone, a poor sickly thing was laid in -the cradle—not as big as a mushroom, and I knew well it was a fairy -changeling. But it so happened that one day, a tailor came by, and -stopped to rest; and when he looked hard at the child, the ugly -misshapen thing sat up quite straight in the cradle, and called out— - -“‘Come now, what are you looking at? Give me four straws to play with.’ - -“And the tailor gave him the straws. And when he got them, the child -played and played such sweet music on them as if they were pipes, that -all the chairs and tables began to dance; and when he grew tired, he -fell back in the cradle and dropped asleep. - -“‘Now,’ said the tailor, ‘that child is not right; but I’ll tell you -what to do. Make down a great fire to begin with.’ - -“So we made the fire. Then the tailor shut the door, and lifted the -unlucky little wretch out of the cradle, and sat it on the fire. And no -sooner had the flames caught it, than it shrieked aloud and flew up the -chimney and disappeared. And when everything was burned that belonged -to it, I knew you would come back to me with our own fine boy. And now -let us name the name of God, and make the sign of the Cross over him, -and ill luck will never again fall on our house—no more for ever.” - -So the man and his wife lived happily from that day forth, and the -child grew up and prospered, and was beautiful to look at and happy in -his life; for the fairy blessings were on him of health, wealth, and -prosperity, even as the queen of the fairies had promised to the mother. - - -THE DOOM. - - -There was a young man of Innismore, named James Lynan, noted through -all the island for his beauty and strength. Never a one could beat him -at hunting or wrestling, and he was, besides, the best dancer in the -whole townland. But he was bold and reckless, and ever foremost in all -the wild wicked doings of the young fellows of the place. - -One day he happened to be in chapel after one of these mad freaks, and -the priest denounced him by name from the altar. - -“James Lynan,” he said, “remember my words; you will come to an ill -end. The vengeance of God will fall on you for your wicked life; and by -the power that is in me I denounce you as an evil liver and a limb of -Satan, and accursed of all good men.” - -The young man turned pale, and fell on his knees before all the people, -crying out bitterly, “Have mercy, have mercy; I repent, I repent,” and -he wept like a woman. - -“Go now in peace,” said the priest, “and strive to lead a new life, and -I’ll pray to God to save your soul.” - -From that day forth James Lynan changed his ways. He gave up drinking, -and never a drop of spirits crossed his lips. And he began to attend to -his farm and his business, in place of being at all the mad revels and -dances and fairs and wakes in the island. Soon after he married a nice -girl, a rich farmer’s daughter, from the mainland, and they had four -fine children, and all things prospered with him. - -But the priest’s words never left his mind, and he would suddenly turn -pale and a shivering would come over him when the memory of the curse -came upon him. Still he prospered, and his life was a model of sobriety -and order. - -One day he and his wife and their children were asked to the wedding -of a friend about four miles off; and James Lynan rode to the place, -the family going on their own car. At the wedding he was the life of -the party as he always was; but never a drop of drink touched his lips. -When evening came on, the family set out for the return home just -as they had set out; the wife and children on the car, James Lynan -riding his own horse. But when the wife arrived at home, she found her -husband’s horse standing at the gate riderless and quite still. They -thought he might have fallen in a faint, and went back to search; when -he was found down in a hollow not five perches from his own gate, lying -quite insensible and his features distorted frightfully, as if seized -while looking on some horrible vision. - -They carried him in, but he never spoke. A doctor was sent for, who -opened a vein, but no blood came. There he lay like a log, speechless -as one dead. Amongst the crowd that gathered round was an old woman -accounted very wise by the people. - -“Send for the fairy doctor,” she said; “he is struck.” - -So they sent off a boy on the fastest horse for the fairy man. He could -not come himself, but he filled a bottle with a potion. Then he said— - -“Ride for your life; give him some of this to drink and sprinkle his -face and hands also with it. But take care as you pass the lone bush -on the round hill near the hollow, for the fairies are there and will -hinder you if they can, and strive to break the bottle.” - -Then the fairy man blew into the mouth and the eyes and the nostrils of -the horse, and turned him round three times on the road and rubbed the -dust off his hoofs. - -“Now go,” he said to the boy; “go and never look behind you, no matter -what you hear.” - -So the boy went like the wind, having placed the bottle safely in his -pocket; and when he came to the lone bush the horse started and gave -such a jump that the bottle nearly fell, but the boy caught it in time -and held it safe and rode on. Then he heard a cluttering of feet behind -him, as of men in pursuit; but he never turned or looked, for he knew -it was the fairies who were after him. And shrill voices cried to him, -“Ride fast, ride fast, for the spell is cast!” Still he never turned -round, but rode on, and never let go his hold of the fairy draught -till he stopped at his master’s door, and handed the potion to the -poor sorrowing wife. And she gave of it to the sick man to drink, and -sprinkled his face and hands, after which he fell into a deep sleep. -But when he woke up, though he knew every one around him, the power -of speech was gone from him; and from that time to his death, which -happened soon after, he never uttered word more. - -So the doom of the priest was fulfilled—evil was his youth and evil -was his fate, and sorrow and death found him at last, for the doom of -the priest is as the word of God. - - -THE CLEARING FROM GUILT. - - -To prove innocence of a crime a certain ancient form is gone through, -which the people look on with great awe, and call it emphatically—“The -Clearing.” It is a fearful ordeal, and instances are known of men who -have died of fear and trembling from having passed through the terrors -of the trial, even if innocent. And it is equally terrible for the -accuser as well as the accused. - -On a certain day fixed for the ordeal the accused goes to the -churchyard and carries away a skull. Then, wrapped in a white sheet, -and bearing the skull in his hand, he proceeds to the house of the -accuser, where a great crowd has assembled; for the news of “A -Clearing” spreads like wildfire, and all the people gather together as -witnesses of the ceremony. There, before the house of his accuser, he -kneels down on his bare knees, makes the sign of the cross on his face, -kisses the skull, and prays for some time in silence; the people also -wait in silence, filled with awe and dread, not knowing what the result -may be. Then the accuser, pale and trembling, comes forward and stands -beside the kneeling man; and with uplifted hand adjures him to speak -the truth. On which the accused, still kneeling and holding the skull -in his hand, utters the most fearful imprecation known in the Irish -language; almost as terrible as that curse of the Druids, which is so -awful that it never yet was put into English words. The accused prays -that if he fail to speak the truth all the sins of the man whose skull -he holds may be laid upon his soul, and all the sins of his forefathers -back to Adam, and all the punishment due to them for the evil of their -lives, and all their weakness and sorrow both of body and soul be laid -on him both in this life and in the life to come for evermore. But if -the accuser has accused falsely and out of malice, then may all the -evil rest on his head through this life for ever, and may his soul -perish everlastingly. - -It would be impossible to describe adequately the awe with which the -assembled people listen to these terrible words, and the dreadful -silence of the crowd as they wait to see the result. If nothing happens -the man rises from his knees after an interval, and is pronounced -innocent by the judgment of the people, and no word is ever again -uttered against him, nor is he shunned or slighted by the neighbours. -But the accuser is looked on with fear and dislike; he is considered -unlucky, and seeing that his life is often made so miserable by the -coldness and suspicion of the people, many would rather suffer wrong -than force the accused person to undergo so terrible a trial as “The -Clearing.” - - -THE HOLY WELL AND THE MURDERER. - - -The Well of St. Brendan, in High Island, has great virtue, but the -miraculous power of the water is lost should a thief or a murderer -drink of it. Now a cruel murder had been committed on the mainland, and -the priest noticed the people that if the murderer tried to conceal -himself in the island no one should harbour him or give him food -or drink. It happened at that time there was a woman of the island -afflicted with pains in her limbs, and she went to the Holy Well to -make the stations and say the prayers, and so get cured. But many a day -passed and still she got no better, though she went round and round the -well on her knees, and recited the paters and aves as she was told. - -Then she went to the priest and told him the story, and he perceived -at once that the well had been polluted by the touch of some one who -had committed a crime. So he bade the woman bring him a bottle of the -water, and she did as he desired. Then having received the water, -he poured it out, and breathed on it three times in the name of the -Trinity; when, lo! the water turned into blood. - -“Here is the evil,” cried the priest. “A murderer has washed his hands -in the well.” - -He then ordered her to make a fire in a circle, which she did, and he -pronounced some words over it; and a mist rose up with the form of a -spirit in the midst, holding a man by the arm. - -“Behold the murderer,” said the spirit; and when the woman looked on -him she shrieked— - -“It is my son! my son!” and she fainted. - -For the year before her son had gone to live on the mainland, and -there, unknown to his mother, he had committed the dreadful murder for -which the vengeance of God lay on him. And when she came to herself the -spirit of the murderer was still there. - -“Oh, my Lord! let him go, let him go!” she cried. - -“You wretched woman!” answered the priest. “How dare you interpose -between God and vengeance. This is but the shadowy form of your son; -but before night he shall be in the hands of the law, and justice shall -be done.” - -Then the forms and the mist melted away, and the woman departed in -tears, and not long after she died of a broken heart. But the well -from that time regained all its miraculous powers, and the fame of its -cures spread far and wide through all the islands. - - -LEGENDS OF INNIS-SARK. -A WOMAN’S CURSE. - - -There was a woman of the Island of Innis-Sark who was determined to -take revenge on a man because he called her by an evil name. So she -went to the Saints’ Well, and, kneeling down, she took some of the -water and poured it on the ground in the name of the devil, saying, -“So may my enemy be poured out like water, and lie helpless on the -earth!” Then she went round the well backwards on her knees, and at -each station she cast a stone in the name of the devil, and said, “So -may the curse fall on him, and the power of the devil crush him!” After -this she returned home. - -Now the next morning there was a stiff breeze, and some of the men were -afraid to go out fishing; but others said they would try their luck, -and amongst them was the man on whom the curse rested. But they had not -gone far from land when the boat was capsized by a heavy squall. The -fishermen, however, saved themselves by swimming to shore; all except -the man on whom the curse rested, and he sank like lead to the bottom, -and the waves covered him, and he was drowned. - -When the woman heard of the fate that had befallen her enemy, she ran -to the beach and clapped her hands with joy and exulted. And as she -stood there laughing with strange and horrid mirth, the corpse of the -man she had cursed slowly rose up from the sea, and came drifting -towards her till it lay almost at her very feet. On this she stooped -down to feast her eyes on the sight of the dead man, when suddenly a -storm of wind screamed past her, and hurled her from the point of rock -where she stood. And when the people ran in all haste to help, no trace -of her body could be seen. The woman and the corpse of the man she had -cursed disappeared together under the waves, and were never seen again -from that time forth. - - * * * * * - -Another woman in Shark Island was considered to have an evil influence -over any one she disliked. One day a man called her a devil’s hag in -his anger. The woman answered nothing, but that night she went to a -Holy Well near the place, and kneeling down, invoked a curse in the -name of the devil. Then she went round the well three times backward -on her knees, and each time threw a stone in the name of the devil, -saying, “So may the curse fall on his head!” Then she returned home, -and told the people to wait for three days, and they would see her -words had power. During this time the man was afraid to go out in his -boat because of the curse. But on the third day as he was walking by -the cliff he fell and broke his leg. And then every one knew that the -woman had the witch-secret of evil, and she was held in much fear. - - * * * * * - -The most effective way of neutralizing the evil influence is to spit -on the object and say, “God bless it!” But another must do it at your -request, and sometimes people refuse, fearing to anger the fairies -by interfering with their work, whether for good or evil. But the -islanders have such faith in the anointing with spittle that they will -often solicit a passing stranger to spit on the afflicted person. -Indeed, a stranger is considered to have more power than a neighbour. - -A woman who kept a small day-school had reason to think that her son, a -fine lad of twelve years old, was bewitched, for when he had eaten up -the whole dish of stirabout at supper, he asked for more. And she said— - -“My son, you had enough for three men. Go to your bed and sleep.” - -But next morning he was worse and more ravenous, for he ate up all -the bread that his mother had made for the scholars just as she took -it from the oven, and not a single cake was left. Then she knew that -witchcraft was on the boy, and she stood by the door to watch for a -stranger. At last one came by, and she cried to him— - -“Come in, come in, for the love of God, and spit on the face of my son!” - -“Why should I spit on your son, O woman?” he answered; and he fled -away, for he thought she was mad. - -Then she sent for the priest, and his reverence poured holy water over -him, and laid his hands upon his head while he prayed. So, after a -time, the power of the witchcraft was broken, and the boy was restored -to his right mind. - - * * * * * - -The islanders believe also that angels are constantly present amongst -them, and all blessed things—the rain, and the dew, and the green -crops—come from their power; but the fairies often bring sickness, -and will do malicious tricks, and lame a horse, or steal the milk and -butter, if they have been offended or deprived of their rights. - -There are certain days on which it is not right to speak of the -fairies. These days are Wednesdays and Fridays, for then they are -present though invisible, and can hear everything, and lay their plans -as to what they will carry off. On Friday especially their power for -evil is very strong, and misfortunes are dreaded in the household. -Therefore, on that day the children and cattle are strictly watched; a -lighted wisp of straw is turned round the baby’s head, and a quenched -coal is set under the cradle and under the churn. And if the horses -are restive in the stable, then the people know the fairies are riding -on their backs. So they spit three times at the animal, when the -fairies scamper off. This cure by the saliva is the most ancient of all -superstitions, and the islanders still have the greatest faith in its -mysterious power and efficacy. - - * * * * * - -At Innisboffin the fairies hold a splendid court, with revelry and -dancing, when the moon is full; and it is very dangerous for young -girls to be out at that time, for they will assuredly be carried off. -And if they once hear the fairy music or drink of the fairy wine, they -will never be the same again—a fate is on them, and before the year is -out they will either disappear or die. - -And the fairies are always on the watch for the handsome girls or -children; for they look on mortals as of much higher race than -themselves. And they are also glad to have the fine young men, the sons -of mortal women, to assist them in their wars with each other; for -there are two parties amongst the fairy spirits, one a gentle race that -loves music and dancing, the other that has obtained power from the -devil, and is always trying to work evil. - -A young man lay down to sleep one Friday evening in summer under a -hay-rick, and the fairies must have carried him off as he slept; for -when he woke he found himself in a great hall, where a number of little -men were at work—some spinning, some making shoes, some making spears -and arrow-heads out of fish-bones and elf-stones; but all busy laughing -and singing with much glee and merriment, while the little pipers -played the merriest tunes. - -Then an old man who sat in the corner came over, and looking very -angry, told him he must not sit there idle; there were friends coming -to dinner, and he must go down and help in the kitchen. So he drove the -poor young fellow before him down into a great vaulted place, where a -huge fire was burning, and a large pot was set over it. - -“Now,” said the old man, “prepare the dinner. There is the old hag we -are going to eat.” - -And true enough, to his horror, on looking round, there was an old -woman hung up by the arms, and an old man skinning her. - -“Now make haste and let the water boil,” said the old man; “don’t you -see the pot on the fire, and I am nearly ready for you to begin. The -company will soon be here, and there is no time to lose, for this old -hag will take a good while to boil. Cut her up into little bits, and -throw her into the pot.” - -However, the young fellow was so frightened that he fell down on the -floor speechless, and could neither move hand nor foot. - -“Get up, you fool,” said another old man, who seemed to be the head -over all; and he laughed at him. “Do your work and never mind; this -does not hurt her a bit. When she was there above in the world she -was a wicked miser, hard to the world, and cruel and bitter in her -words and works; so now we have her here, and her soul will never rest -in peace, because we shall cut up the body in little bits, and the -soul will not be able to find it, but wander about in the dark to all -eternity without a body.” - -Then the young man knew no more till he found himself in a beautiful -hall, where a banquet was laid out; but, in place of the old hag, the -table was covered with fruit, and chickens, and young turkeys, and -butter, and cakes fresh from the oven, and crystal cups of bright red -wine. - -“Now sit down and eat,” said the prince, who sat at the top on a -throne, with a red sash round his waist, and a gold band on his head. -“Sit down with this pleasant company and eat with us; you are welcome.” - -And there were many beautiful ladies seated round, and grand noblemen, -with red caps and sashes; and they all smiled at him and bade him eat. - -“No,” said the young man; “I cannot eat with you, for I see no priest -here to bless the food. Let me go in peace.” - -“Not at least till you taste our wine,” said the prince with a friendly -smile. - -And one of the beautiful ladies rose up and filled a crystal cup with -the bright red wine, and gave it him. And when he saw it, the sight of -it tempted him, and he could not help himself, but drank it all off -without stopping; for it seemed to him the most delicious draught he -ever had in his whole life. - -But no sooner had he laid down the glass, than a noise like thunder -shook the building, and all the lights went out; and he found himself -alone in the dark night lying under the very same hay-rick where he had -cast himself down to sleep, tired after his work. So he made his way -home at last; but the taste of the fairy wine burned in his veins, and -a fever was on him night and day for another draught; and he did no -good, but pined away, seeking the fairy mansion, though he never found -it any more. And so he died in his youth, a warning to all who eat of -the fairy food, or drink of the fairy wine; for never more will they -know peace or content, or be fit for their work, as in the days before -the fairy spell was on them, which brings doom and death to all who -fall under the fatal enchantment of its unholy power. - - -LEGENDS OF THE DEAD IN THE WESTERN ISLANDS. - - -When young people die, either men or women, who were remarkable for -beauty, it is supposed that they are carried off by the fairies to the -fairy mansions under the earth, where they live in splendid palaces and -are wedded to fairy queens or princes. But sometimes, if their kindred -greatly desire to see them, they are allowed to visit the earth, though -no enchantment has yet been discovered powerful enough to compel them -to remain or resume again the mortal life. - -Sometimes when the fishermen are out they meet a strange boat filled -with people; and when they look on them they know that they are the -dead who have been carried off by the fairies with their wiles and -enchantments to dwell in the fairy palaces. - -One day a man was out fishing, but caught nothing; and was just turning -home in despair at his ill-luck when he suddenly saw a boat with three -persons in it; and it seemed to him that they were his comrades, the -very men who just a year before had been drowned in that spot, but -whose bodies were never recovered, and he knew that he looked upon the -dead. But the men were friendly, and called out to him— - -“Cast your line as we direct, and you will have luck.” - -So he cast his line as they bade him, and presently drew up a fine fish. - -“Now, cast again,” they said, “and keep beside us, and row to shore, -but do not look on us.” - -So he did as directed and hauled up fish after fish till his boat was -full, and then he drew it up to the landing-place. - -“Now,” they said, “wait and see that no one is about before you land.” - -So the man looked up and down the shore, but saw no one; then he -turned to land his fish, when, behold, the men and the second boat -had vanished, and he saw them no more. However, he landed his fish -with much joy and brought them all safely home, though the wise people -said that if he had not turned away his head that time, but kept his -eyes steadily on the men till he landed, the enchantment would have -been broken that held them in fairy-land, and the dead would have been -restored to the earthly life, and to their kindred in the island who -mourned for them. - - -THE DEATH SIGN. - - -A woman was out one day looking after her sheep in the valley, and -coming by a little stream she sat down to rest, when suddenly she -seemed to hear the sound of low music, and turning round, beheld at -some distance a crowd of people dancing and making merry. And she grew -afraid and turned her head away not to see them. Then close by her -stood a young man, pale and strange looking, and she beheld him with -fear. - -“Who are you?” she said at last; “and why do you stand beside me?” - -“You ought to know me,” he replied, “for I belong to this place; but -make haste now and come away, or evil will befall you.” - -Then she stood up and was going away with him, when the crowd left off -their dancing and ran towards them crying— - -“Come back; come back; come back!” - -“Don’t stop; don’t listen,” said the young man, “but follow me.” - -Then they both began to run, and ran on until they reached a hillock. - -“Now we are safe,” said he; “they can’t harm us here.” And when they -stopped he said to her again, “Look me in the face and say if you know -me now?” - -“No,” she answered, “you are a stranger to me.” - -“Look again,” he said, “look me straight in the face and you will know -me.” - -Then she looked, and knew instantly that he was a man who had been -drowned the year before in the dark winter time, and the waves had -never cast up his body on the shore. And she threw up her arms and -cried aloud— - -“Have you news of my child? Have you seen her, my fair-haired girl, -that was stolen from me this day seven years? Will she come back to me -never no more?” - -“I have seen her,” said the man, “but she will never come back, never -more, for she has eaten of the fairy food and must now stay with the -spirits under the sea, for she belongs to them body and soul. But go -home now, for it is late, and evil is near you; and perhaps you will -meet her sooner than you think.” - -Then as the women turned her face homeward, the man disappeared and she -saw him no more. - -When at last she reached the threshold of her house a fear and -trembling came on her, and she called to her husband that some one -stood in the doorway and she could not pass. And with that she fell -down on the threshold on her face, but spake no word more. And when -they lifted her up she was dead. - - -KATHLEEN. - - -A young girl from Innis-Sark had a lover, a fine young fellow, who met -his death by an accident, to her great grief and sorrow. - -One evening at sunset, as she sat by the roadside crying her eyes out, -a beautiful lady came by all in white, and tapped her on the cheek. - -“Don’t cry, Kathleen,” she said, “your lover is safe. Just take this -ring of herbs and look through it and you will see him. He is with a -grand company, and wears a golden circlet on his head and a scarlet -sash round his waist.” - -So Kathleen took the ring of herbs and looked through it, and there -indeed was her lover in the midst of a great company dancing on the -hill; and he was very pale, but handsomer than ever, with the gold -circlet round his head, as if they had made him a prince. - -“Now,” said the lady, “here is a larger ring of herbs. Take it, and -whenever you want to see your lover, pluck a leaf from it and burn it; -and a great smoke will arise, and you will fall into a trance; and in -the trance your lover will carry you away to the fairy rath, and there -you may dance all night with him on the greensward. But say no prayer, -and make no sign of the cross while the smoke is rising, or your lover -will disappear for ever.” - -From that time a great change came over Kathleen. She said no prayer, -and cared for no priest, and never made the sign of the cross, but -every night shut herself up in her room, and burned a leaf of the ring -of herbs as she had been told; and when the smoke arose she fell into -a deep sleep and knew no more. But in the morning she told her people -that, though she seemed to be lying in her bed, she was far away with -the fairies on the hill dancing with her lover. And she was very happy -in her new life, and wanted no priest nor prayer nor mass any more, -and all the dead were there dancing with the rest, all the people she -had known; and they welcomed her and gave her wine to drink in little -crystal cups, and told her she must soon come and stay with them and -with her lover for evermore. - -Now Kathleen’s mother was a good, honest, religious woman, and she -fretted much over her daughter’s strange state, for she knew the girl -had been fairy-struck. So she determined to watch; and one night when -Kathleen went to her bed as usual all alone by herself in the room, for -she would allow no one to be with her, the mother crept up and looked -through a chink in the door, and then she saw Kathleen take the round -ring of herbs from a secret place in the press and pluck a leaf from it -and burn it, on which a great smoke arose and the girl fell on her bed -in a deep trance. - -Now the mother could no longer keep silence, for she saw there was -devil’s work in it; and she fell on her knees and prayed aloud— - -“O Maia, mother, send the evil spirit away from the child!” - -And she rushed into the room and made the sign of the cross over the -sleeping girl, when immediately Kathleen started up and screamed— - -“Mother! mother! the dead are coming for me. They are here! they are -here!” - -And her features looked like one in a fit. Then the poor mother sent -for the priest, who came at once, and threw holy water on the girl, and -said prayers over her; and he took the ring of herbs that lay beside -her and cursed it for evermore, and instantly it fell to powder and lay -like grey ashes on the floor. After this Kathleen grew calmer, and the -evil spirit seemed to have left her, but she was too weak to move or to -speak, or to utter a prayer, and before the clock struck twelve that -night she lay dead. - - -NOVEMBER EVE. - - -It is esteemed a very wrong thing amongst the islanders to be about on -November Eve, minding any business, for the fairies have their flitting -then, and do not like to be seen or watched; and all the spirits come -to meet them and help them. But mortal people should keep at home, or -they will suffer for it; for the souls of the dead have power over all -things on that one night of the year; and they hold a festival with the -fairies, and drink red wine from the fairy cups, and dance to fairy -music till the moon goes down. - -There was a man of the village who stayed out late one November Eve -fishing, and never thought of the fairies until he saw a great number -of dancing lights, and a crowd of people hurrying past with baskets and -bags, and all laughing and singing and making merry as they went along. - -“You are a merry set,” he said, “where are ye all going to?” - -“We are going to the fair,” said a little old man with a cocked hat and -a gold band round it. “Come with us, Hugh King, and you will have the -finest food and the finest drink you ever set eyes upon.” - -“And just carry this basket for me,” said a little red-haired woman. - -So Hugh took it, and went with them till they came to the fair, which -was filled with a crowd of people he had never seen on the island in -all his days. And they danced and laughed and drank red wine from -little cups. And there were pipers, and harpers, and little cobblers -mending shoes, and all the most beautiful things in the world to eat -and drink, just as if they were in a king’s palace. But the basket was -very heavy, and Hugh longed to drop it, that he might go and dance with -a little beauty with long yellow hair, that was laughing up close to -his face. - -“Well, here put down the basket,” said the red-haired woman, “for you -are quite tired, I see;” and she took it and opened the cover, and out -came a little old man, the ugliest, most misshapen little imp that -could be imagined. - -“Ah, thank you, Hugh,” said the imp, quite politely; “you have carried -me nicely; for I am weak on the limbs—indeed I have nothing to speak -of in the way of legs: but I’ll pay you well, my fine fellow; hold -out your two hands,” and the little imp poured down gold and gold and -gold into them, bright golden guineas. “Now go,” said he, “and drink -my health, and make yourself quite pleasant, and don’t be afraid of -anything you see and hear.” - -So they all left him, except the man with the cocked hat and the red -sash round his waist. - -“Wait here now a bit,” says he, “for Finvarra, the king, is coming, and -his wife, to see the fair.” - -As he spoke, the sound of a horn was heard, and up drove a coach and -four white horses, and out of it stepped a grand, grave gentleman all -in black and a beautiful lady with a silver veil over her face. - -“Here is Finvarra himself and the queen,” said the little old man; but -Hugh was ready to die of fright when Finvarra asked— - -“What brought this man here?” - -And the king frowned and looked so black that Hugh nearly fell to the -ground with fear. Then they all laughed, and laughed so loud that -everything seemed shaking and tumbling down from the laughter. And the -dancers came up, and they all danced round Hugh, and tried to take his -hands to make him dance with them. - -“Do you know who these people are; and the men and women who are -dancing round you?” asked the old man. “Look well, have you ever seen -them before?” - -And when Hugh looked he saw a girl that had died the year before, then -another and another of his friends that he knew had died long ago; -and then he saw that all the dancers, men, women, and girls, were the -dead in their long, white shrouds. And he tried to escape from them, -but could not, for they coiled round him, and danced and laughed and -seized his arms, and tried to draw him into the dance, and their laugh -seemed to pierce through his brain and kill him. And he fell down -before them there, like one faint from sleep, and knew no more till he -found himself next morning lying within the old stone circle by the -fairy rath on the hill. Still it was all true that he had been with the -fairies; no one could deny it, for his arms were all black with the -touch of the hands of the dead, the time they had tried to draw him -into the dance; but not one bit of all the red gold, which the little -imp had given him, could he find in his pocket. Not one single golden -piece; it was all gone for evermore. - -And Hugh went sadly to his home, for now he knew that the spirits -had mocked him and punished him, because he troubled their revels on -November Eve—that one night of all the year when the dead can leave -their graves and dance in the moonlight on the hill, and mortals should -stay at home and never dare to look on them. - - -THE DANCE OF THE DEAD. - - -It is especially dangerous to be out late on the last night of -November, for it is the closing scene of the revels—the last night -when the dead have leave to dance on the hill with the fairies, and -after that they must all go back to their graves and lie in the chill, -cold earth, without music or wine till the next November comes round, -when they all spring up again in their shrouds and rush out into the -moonlight with mad laughter. - -One November night, a woman of Shark Island, coming home late at the -hour of the dead, grew tired and sat down to rest, when presently a -young man came up and talked to her. - -“Wait a bit,” he said, “and you will see the most beautiful dancing you -ever looked on there by the side of the hill.” - -And she looked at him steadily. He was very pale, and seemed sad. - -“Why are you so sad?” she asked, “and as pale as if you were dead?” - -“Look well at me,” he answered. “Do you not know me?” - -“Yes, I know you now,” she said. “You are young Brien that was drowned -last year when out fishing. What are you here for?” - -“Look,” he said, “at the side of the hill and you will see why I am -here.” - -And she looked, and saw a great company dancing to sweet music; and -amongst them were all the dead who had died as long as she could -remember—men, women, and children, all in white, and their faces were -pale as the moonlight. - -“Now,” said the young man, “run for your life; for if once the fairies -bring you into the dance you will never be able to leave them any more.” - -But while they were talking, the fairies came up and danced round her -in a circle, joining their hands. And she fell to the ground in a -faint, and knew no more till she woke up in the morning in her own bed -at home. And they all saw that her face was pale as the dead, and they -knew that she had got the fairy-stroke. So the herb doctor was sent -for, and every measure tried to save her, but without avail, for just -as the moon rose that night, soft, low music was heard round the house, -and when they looked at the woman she was dead. - -It is a custom amongst the people, when throwing away water at night, -to cry out in a loud voice, “Take care of the water;” or, literally -from the Irish, “Away with yourself from the water”—for they say the -spirits of the dead last buried are then wandering about, and it would -be dangerous if the water fell on them. - -One dark winter’s night a woman suddenly threw out a pail of boiling -water without thinking of the warning words. Instantly a cry was heard -as of a person in pain, but no one was seen. However, the next night a -black lamb entered the house, having the back all fresh scalded, and it -lay down moaning by the hearth and died. Then they all knew this was -the spirit that had been scalded by the woman. And they carried the -dead lamb out reverently and buried it deep in the earth. Yet every -night at the same hour it walked again into the house and lay down and -moaned and died. And after this had happened many times, the priest was -sent for, and finally, by the strength of his exorcism, the spirit of -the dead was laid to rest, and the black lamb appeared no more. Neither -was the body of the dead lamb found in the grave when they searched for -it, though it had been laid by their own hands deep in the earth and -covered with the clay. - - * * * * * - -Before an accident happens to a boat, or a death by drowning, low -music is often heard, as if under the water, along with harmonious -lamentations, and then every one in the boat knows that some young man -or beautiful young girl is wanted by the fairies, and is doomed to -die. The best safeguard is to have music and singing in the boat, for -the fairies are so enamoured of the mortal voices and music that they -forget to weave the spell till the fatal moment has passed, and then -all in the boat are safe from harm. - - -SUPERSTITIONS CONCERNING THE DEAD. - - -Many strange spells are effected by the means of a dead man’s -hand—chiefly to produce butter in the churn. The milk is stirred round -nine times with the dead hand, the operator crying aloud all the time, -“Gather! gather! gather!” While a secret form of words is used which -none but the initiated know. - - * * * * * - -Another use is to facilitate robberies. If a candle is placed in a dead -hand, neither wind nor water can extinguish it. And if carried into -a house the inmates will sleep the sleep of the dead as long as it -remains under the roof, and no power on earth can wake them while the -dead hand holds the candle. - - * * * * * - -For a mystic charm, one of the strongest known is the hand of an -unbaptized infant fresh taken from the grave in the name of the Evil -One. - - * * * * * - -A dead hand is esteemed also a certain cure for most diseases, and many -a time sick people have been brought to a house where a corpse lay that -the hand of the dead might be laid on them. - - * * * * * - -The souls of the dead who may happen to die abroad, greatly desire to -rest in Ireland. And the relations deem it their duty to bring back the -body to be laid in Irish earth. But even then the dead will not rest -peaceably unless laid with their forefathers and their own people, and -not amongst strangers. - -A young girl happened to die of a fever while away on a visit to some -friends, and her father thought it safer not to bring her home, but to -have her buried in the nearest churchyard. However, a few nights after -his return home, he was awakened by a mournful wail at the window, and -a voice cried, “I am alone; I am alone; I am alone!” Then the poor -father knew well what it meant, and he prayed in the name of God that -the spirit of his dead child might rest in peace until the morning. And -when the day broke he arose and set off to the strange burial ground, -and there he drew the coffin from the earth, and had it carried all the -way back from Cork to Mayo; and after he had laid the dead in the old -graveyard beside his people and his kindred, the spirit of his child -had rest, and the mournful cry was no more heard in the night. - - * * * * * - -The corner of a sheet that has wrapped a corpse is a cure for headache -if tied round the head. - - * * * * * - -The ends of candles used at wakes are of great efficacy in curing burns. - - * * * * * - -A piece of linen wrap taken from a corpse will cure the swelling of a -limb if tied round the part affected. - - * * * * * - -It is believed that the spirit of the dead last buried has to watch in -the churchyard until another corpse is laid there; or has to perform -menial offices in the spirit world, such as carrying wood and water -until the next spirit comes from earth. They are also sent on messages -to earth, chiefly to announce the coming death of some relative, and -at this they are glad, for then their time of peace and rest will come -at last. - - * * * * * - -If any one stumbles at a grave it is a bad omen; but if he falls and -touches the clay, he will assuredly die before the year is out. - - * * * * * - -Any one meeting a funeral must turn back and walk at least four steps -with the mourners. - - * * * * * - -If the nearest relative touches the hand of a corpse it will utter a -wild cry if not quite dead. - - * * * * * - -On Twelfth Night the dead walk, and on every tile of the house a soul -is sitting, waiting for your prayers to take it out of purgatory. - - * * * * * - -There are many strange superstitions in the western islands of -Connemara. At night the dead can be heard laughing with the fairies and -spinning the flax. One girl declared that she distinctly heard her dead -mother’s voice singing a mournful Irish air away down in the heart of -the hill. But after a year and a day the voices cease, and the dead are -gone for ever. - - * * * * * - -It is a custom in the West, when a corpse is carried to the grave, for -the bearers to stop half way, while the nearest relatives build up a -small monument of loose stones, and no hand would ever dare to touch or -disturb this monument while the world lasts. - - * * * * * - -When the grave is dug, a cross is made of two spades, and the coffin is -carried round it three times before being placed in the clay. Then the -prayers for the dead are said, all the people kneeling with uncovered -head. - - -THE FATAL LOVE-CHARM. - - -A potent love-charm used by women is a piece of skin taken from the arm -of a corpse and tied on the person while sleeping whose love is sought. -The skin is then removed after some time, and carefully put away before -the sleeper awakes or has any consciousness of the transaction. And as -long as it remains in the woman’s possession the love of her lover will -be unchanged. Or the strip of skin is placed under the head to dream -on, in the name of the Evil One, when the future husband will appear in -the dream. - -A young girl who was servant in the large and handsome house of a rich -family tried this charm for fun, thinking she would dream of one of her -fellow-servants, and next morning her mistress asked the result. - -“Throth, ma’am,” she answered, “there never was such a foolish trick, -for it was of the master himself I was dreaming all night, and of no -one else.” - -Soon after the lady died, and the girl, remembering her dream, watched -her opportunity to tie a piece of skin taken from a corpse recently -buried round the arm of her master while he slept. After this he became -violently in love with the girl, though she was exceedingly ugly, -and within the year he married her, his love all the while remaining -fervent and unchanged. - -But exactly one year and a day after her marriage her bedroom took fire -by accident, and the strip of skin, which she had kept carefully hidden -in her wardrobe, was burnt, along with all her grand wedding-clothes. -Immediately the magic charm was broken, and the hatred of the gentleman -for his low-born wife became as strong as the love he had once felt for -her. - -In her rage and grief at finding nothing but coldness and insult, she -confessed the whole story; and, in consequence, the horror she inspired -amongst the people was so great that no one would serve her with food -or drink, or sit near her, or hold any intercourse with her; and she -died miserably and half mad before the second year was out—a warning -and a terror to all who work spells in the name of the Evil One. - - -THE FENIAN KNIGHTS. -A LEGEND OF THE WEST. - - -There is a fort near the Killeries in Connemara called _Lis-na-Keeran_. -One day the powerful chief that lived there invited the great Fionn -Ma-Coul, with his son Oscar and a band of Fenian knights, to a great -banquet. But when the guests arrived they found no chairs prepared for -them, only rough benches of wood placed round the table. - -So Oscar and his father would take no place, but stood watching, for -they suspected treachery. The knights, however, fearing nothing, sat -down to the feast, but were instantly fixed to the benches so firmly by -magic, that they could neither rise nor move. - -Then Fionn began to chew his thumb, from which he always derived -knowledge of the future, and by his magic power he saw clearly a great -and terrible warrior riding fiercely towards the fort, and Fionn knew -that unless he could be stopped before crossing a certain ford, they -must all die, for they had been brought to Lis-na-Keeran only to be -slain by their treacherous host; and unless the warrior was killed and -his blood sprinkled on the Fenian knights, they must remain fixed on -the wooden benches for ever. - -So Oscar of the Lion heart rushed forth to the encounter. And he flung -his spear at the mighty horseman, and they fought desperately till the -setting of the sun. Then at last Oscar triumphed; victory was his; and -he cut off the head of his adversary, and carried it on his spear all -bleeding to the fort, where he let the blood drop down upon the Fenian -knights that were transfixed by magic. On this they at once sprang up -free and scatheless, all except one, for on him unhappily no blood had -fallen, and so he remained fixed to the bench. His companions tried to -drag him up by main force, but as they did so the skin of his thighs -was left on the bench, and he was like to die. - -Then they killed a sheep, and wrapped the fleece round him warm from -the animal to heal him. So he was cured, but ever after, strange to -relate, seven stone of wool were annually shorn from his body as long -as he lived. - - * * * * * - -The manner in which Fionn learned the mystery of obtaining wisdom from -his thumb was in this wise. - -It happened one time when he was quite a youth that he was taken -prisoner by a one-eyed giant, who at first was going to kill him, -but then he changed his mind and sent him to the kitchen to mind the -dinner. Now there was a great and splendid salmon broiling on the fire, -and the giant said— - -“Watch that salmon till it is done; but if a single blister rise on the -skin you shall be killed.” - -Then the giant threw himself down to sleep while waiting for the dinner. - -So Fionn watched the salmon with all his eyes, but to his horror saw -a blister rising on the beautiful silver skin of the fish, and in his -fright and eagerness he pressed his thumb down on it to flatten it; -then the pain of the burn being great, he clapped the thumb into his -mouth and kept it there to suck out the fire. When he drew it back, -however, he found, to his surprise that he had a knowledge of all that -was going to happen to him, and a clear sense of what he ought to do. -And it came into his mind that if he put out the giant’s eye with an -iron rod heated in the fire, he could escape from the monster. So he -heated the rod, and while the giant slept he plunged it into his eye, -and before the horrid being recovered from the shock, Fionn escaped, -and was soon back safe amongst his own people, the Fenian knights; and -ever after in moments of great peril and doubt, when he put his thumb -into his mouth and sucked it, the vision of the future came on him, -and he could foresee clearly whatever danger lay in his path, and how -to avoid it. But it was only in such extreme moments of peril that the -mystic power was granted to him. And thus he was enabled to save his -own life and the lives of his chosen Fenian guard when all hope seemed -well-nigh gone. - - -RATHLIN ISLAND. - - -There is an old ruin called Bruce’s Castle on this island, and the -legend runs that Bruce and his chief warriors lie in an enchanted sleep -in a cave of the rock on which stands the castle, and that one day they -will rise up and unite the island to Scotland. - -The entrance to this cave is visible only once in seven years. A -man who happened to be travelling by at the time discovered it, -and entering in he found himself all at once in the midst of the -heavy-handed warriors. He looked down and saw a sabre half unsheathed -in the earth at his feet, and on his attempting to draw it every man -of the sleepers lifted up his head and put his hand on his sword. The -man being much alarmed fled from the cave, but he heard voices calling -fiercely after him: “Ugh! ugh! Why could we not be left to sleep?” And -they clanged their swords on the ground with a terrible noise, and then -all was still, and the gate of the cave closed with a mighty sound like -a clap of thunder. - - -THE STRANGE GUESTS. - - -A company of strangers came one day to Rathlin island and the people -distrusted them, but pretended to be friendly, and invited them to a -feast, meaning to put an end to them all when they came unarmed to the -festival, and the drink flowed freely. So the strangers came, but each -man as he sat down drew his knife and stuck it in the table before -him ere he began to eat. When the islanders saw their guests so well -prepared, they were afraid; and the feast passed off quietly. - -The next morning early, the strangers sailed away before any one was -aware on the island; but on the table where each guest had sat, a -piece of silver was found, covering the hole made by the knife. So the -islanders rejoiced, and determined never again to plot evil against the -wayfaring guests; but to be kind and hospitable to all wanderers for -the sake of the Holy Mother, who had sent them to the island to bring -good luck to the people. But they never saw the strangers more. - -The islanders have great faith in the power of the Virgin Mary, for our -Lord Himself told St. Bridget that His mother had a throne in heaven -near His own; and whatever she asked of God it was granted, especially -if it was any grace or favour for the Irish people, because He held -them in great esteem on account of their piety and good works. - - -THE DEAD SOLDIER. - - -There is an island in the Shannon, and if a mermaid is seen sitting -on the rocks in the sunshine, the people know that a crime has been -committed somewhere near; for she never appears but to announce -ill-luck, and she has a spite against mortals, and rejoices at their -misfortunes. - -One day a young fisherman was drawn by the current towards the island, -and he came on a long streak of red blood, and had to sail his boat -through it till he reached the rocks where the mermaid was seated; and -then the boat went round and round as in a whirlpool, and sank down at -last under the waves. - -Still he did not lose consciousness. He looked round and saw that he -was in a beautiful country, with tall plants growing all over it; and -the mermaid came and sang sweetly to him, and offered him wine to -drink, but he would not taste it, for it was red like blood. Then he -looked down, and to his horror he saw a soldier lying on the floor -with his throat cut; and all round him was a pool of blood, and he -remembered no more till he found himself again in his boat drifting -against a hurricane, and suddenly he was dashed upon a rock, where his -friends who were in search of him found him, and carried him home. -There he heard a strange thing: a soldier, a deserter from the Athlone -Barracks, being pursued had cut his throat and flung himself over the -bridge into the river; and this was the very man the young fisher had -seen lying a corpse in the mermaid’s cave. After this he had no peace -or comfort till he went to the priest, who exorcised him and gave him -absolution; and then the wicked siren of the rocks troubled him no -more, though she still haunts the islands of the Shannon and tries to -lure victims to their death. - - -THE THREE GIFTS. - - -A great, noble-looking man called one night at a cottage, and told the -woman that she must come away with him then and there on the instant, -for his wife wanted a nurse for her baby. And so saying, before she -could answer, he swung her up on his great black horse on a pillion -behind him. And she sat wondering at his tall, shadowy form, for she -could see the moonlight through him. - -“Do not fear,” he said, “and no harm will happen to you. Only ask no -questions whatever happens, and drink no wine that may be offered to -you.” - -On reaching the palace she saw the most beautiful ladies going about -all covered with jewels, and she was led into a chamber hung with silk -and gold, and lace as fine as cobwebs; and there on a bed supported by -crystal pillars lay the mother, lovely as an angel, and her little baby -beside her. And when the nurse had dressed the baby and handed it to -the mother, the lady smiled and offered her wine; “for then,” she said, -“you will never leave us, and I would love to have you always near me.” - -But the woman refused, though she was sorely tempted by the beautiful -bright red wine. - -“Well, then,” said the lord and master, “here are three gifts, and you -may take them away in safety, for no harm will come to you by them. A -purse, never to be opened, but while you have it, you will never want -money; a girdle, and whoso wears it will never be slain in battle; and -an herb that has power to cure all diseases for seven generations.” - -So the woman was put again upon the horse with her three gifts, and -reached her home safely. Then, from curiosity, the first thing she did -was to open the purse, and behold, there was nothing in it but some -wild flowers. On seeing this, she was so angry that she flung away the -herb, “for they were only making a fool of me,” she said, “and I don’t -believe one word of their stories.” But the husband took the belt and -kept it safe, and it went down in the family from father to son; and -the last man who wore it was out in all the troubles of ’98, and fought -in every one of the battles, but he never got hurt or wound. However, -after his death, no one knew what became of the belt; it was never seen -more. - - * * * * * - -A woman was carried off one night to a fairy palace to attend one of -the beautiful fairy ladies who lay sick on her golden bed. And as she -was going in at the gate a man whispered to her, “Eat no food, and -take no money from the fairies; but ask what you like and it will be -granted.” So when the fairy lady was well, she bade the nurse ask what -she pleased. The woman answered, “I desire three things for my sons and -their race—luck in fishing, luck in learning, and luck in gambling,” -which things were granted—and to this day the family are the richest, -the wisest, and the luckiest in the whole neighbourhood. They win at -every game, and at every race, but always by fair play and without -cheating; and not the priest himself can beat them at book learning. -And every one knows that the power comes to them from the fairy gift, -though good luck comes with it and not evil; and all the work of their -hands has prospered through every generation since the day of the Three -Wishes. - - -THE FAIRIES AS FALLEN ANGELS. - - -The islanders, like all the Irish, believe that the fairies are the -fallen angels who were cast down by the Lord God out of heaven for -their sinful pride. And some fell into the sea, and some on the dry -land, and some fell deep down into hell, and the devil gives to these -knowledge and power, and sends them on earth where they work much -evil. But the fairies of the earth and the sea are mostly gentle and -beautiful creatures, who will do no harm if they are let alone, and -allowed to dance on the fairy raths in the moonlight to their own sweet -music, undisturbed by the presence of mortals. As a rule, the people -look on fire as the great preservative against witchcraft, for the -devil has no power except in the dark. So they put a live coal under -the churn, and they wave a lighted wisp of straw above the cow’s head -if the beast seems sickly. But as to the pigs, they take no trouble, -for they say the devil has no longer any power over them now. When -they light a candle they cross themselves, because the evil spirits -are then clearing out of the house in fear of the light. Fire and Holy -Water they hold to be sacred, and are powerful; and the best safeguard -against all things evil, and the surest test in case of suspected -witchcraft. - - -THE FAIRY CHANGELING. - - -One evening, a man was coming home late, and he passed a house where -two women stood by a window, talking. - -“I have left the dead child in the cradle as you bid me,” said one -woman, “and behold here is the other child, take it and let me go;” -and she laid down an infant on a sheet by the window, who seemed in a -secret sleep, and it was draped all in white. - -“Wait,” said the other, “till you have had some food, and then take it -to the fairy queen, as I promised, in place of the dead child that we -have laid in the cradle by the nurse. Wait also till the moon rises, -and then you shall have the payment which I promised.” - -They then both turned from the window. Now the man saw that there was -some devil’s magic in it all. And when the women turned away he crept -up close to the open window and put his hand in and seized the sleeping -child and drew it out quietly without ever a sound. Then he made off as -fast as he could to his own home, before the women could know anything -about it, and handed the child to his mother’s care. Now the mother was -angry at first, but when he told her the story, she believed him, and -put the baby to sleep—a lovely, beautiful boy with a face like an angel. - -Next morning there was a great commotion in the village, for the news -spread that the first-born son of the great lord of the place, a -lovely, healthy child, died suddenly in the night, without ever having -had a sign of sickness. When they looked at him in the morning, there -he laid dead in his cradle, and he was shrunk and wizened like a little -old man, and no beauty was seen on him any more. So great lamentation -was heard on all sides, and the whole country gathered to the wake. -Amongst them came the young man who had carried off the child, and when -he looked on the little wizened thing in the cradle he laughed. Now the -parents were angry at his laughter, and wanted to turn him out. - -But he said, “Wait, put down a good fire,” and they did so. - -Then he went over to the cradle and said to the hideous little -creature, in a loud voice before all the people— - -“If you don’t rise up this minute and leave the place, I will burn you -on the fire; for I know right well who you are, and where you came -from.” - -At once the child sat up and began to grin at him; and made a rush to -the door to get away; but the man caught hold of it and threw it on the -fire. And the moment it felt the heat it turned into a black kitten, -and flew up the chimney and was seen no more. - -Then the man sent word to his mother to bring the other child, who -was found to be the true heir, the lord’s own son. So there was great -rejoicing, and the child grew up to be a great lord himself, and when -his time came, he ruled well over the estate; and his descendants are -living to this day, for all things prospered with him after he was -saved from the fairies. - - -FAIRY WILES. - - -When the fairies steal away a beautiful mortal child they leave an -ugly, wizened little creature in its place. And these fairy changelings -grow up malicious and wicked, and have voracious appetites. The unhappy -parents often try the test of fire for the child, in this wise—placing -it in the centre of the cabin, they light a fire round it, and fully -expect to see it changed into a sod of turf. But if the child survives -the ordeal it is accepted as one of the family, though very grudgingly; -and it is generally hated by all the neighbours for its impish ways. -But the children of the Sidhe and a mortal mother are always clever -and beautiful, and specially excel in music and dancing. They are, -however, passionate and wilful, and have strange, moody fits, when they -desire solitude above all things, and seem to hold converse with unseen -spiritual beings. - -Fine young peasant women are often carried off by the fairies to nurse -their little fairy progeny. But the woman is allowed to come back -to her own infant after sunset. However, on entering the house, the -husband must at once throw holy water over her in the name of God, when -she will be restored to her own shape. For sometimes she comes with a -hissing noise like a serpent; then she appears black, and shrouded like -one from the dead; and, lastly, in her own shape, when she takes her -old place by the fire and nurses her baby; and the husband must ask no -questions, but give her food in silence. If she falls asleep the third -night, all will be well, for the husband at once ties a red thread -across the door to prevent the fairies coming in to carry her off, and -if the third night passes over safely the fairies have lost their power -over her for evermore. - - -SHAUN-MOR. -A LEGEND OF INNIS-SARK. - - -The islanders believe firmly in the existence of fairies who live in -the caves by the sea—little men about the height of a sod of turf, who -come out of the fissures of the rocks and are bright and merry, wearing -green jackets and red caps, and ready enough to help any one they like, -though often very malicious if offended or insulted. - -There was an old man on the island called Shaun-Mor, who said that he -had often travelled at night with the little men and carried their -sacks for them; and in return they gave him strange fairy gifts and -taught him the secret of power, so that he could always triumph over -his enemies; and even as to the fairies, he was as wise as any of them, -and could fight half a dozen of them together if he were so minded, and -pitch them into the sea or strangle them with seaweed. So the fairies -were angered at his pride and presumption, and determined to do him a -malicious turn, just to amuse themselves when they were up for fun. So -one night when he was returning home, he suddenly saw a great river -between him and his house. - -“How shall I get across now?” he cried aloud; and immediately an eagle -came up to him. - -“Don’t cry, Shaun-Mor,” said the eagle, “but get on my back and I’ll -carry you safely.” - -So Shaun-Mor mounted, and they flew right up ever so high, till at last -the eagle tumbled him off by the side of a great mountain in a place he -had never seen before. - -“This is a bad trick you have played me,” said Shaun; “tell me where I -am now?” - -“You are in the moon,” said the eagle, “and get down the best way you -can, for now I must be off; so good-bye. Mind you don’t fall off the -edge. Good-bye,” and with that the eagle disappeared. - -Just then a cleft in the rock opened, and out came a man as pale as the -dead with a reaping-hook in his hand. - -“What brings you here?” said he. “Only the dead come here,” and he -looked fixedly at Shaun-Mor so that he trembled like one already dying. - -“O your worship,” he said, “I live far from here. Tell me how I am to -get down, and help me I beseech you.” - -“Ay, that I will,” said the pale-faced man. “Here is the help I give -you,” and with that he gave him a blow with the reaping-hook which -tumbled Shaun right over the edge of the moon; and he fell and fell -ever so far till luckily he came in the midst of a flock of geese, and -the old gander that was leading stopped and eyed him. - -“What are you doing here, Shaun-Mor?” said he, “for I know you well. -I’ve often seen you down in Shark. What will your wife say when she -hears of your being out so late at night, wandering about in this way. -It is very disreputable, and no well brought up gander would do the -like, much less a man; I am ashamed of you, Shaun-Mor.” - -“O your honour,” said the poor man, “it is an evil turn of the evil -witches, for they have done all this; but let me just get up on your -back, and if your honour brings me safe to my own house I shall be for -ever grateful to every goose and gander in the world as long as I live.” - -“Well then, get up on my back,” said the bird, fluttering its wings -with a great clatter over Shaun; but he couldn’t manage at all to get -on its back, so he caught hold of one leg, and he and the gander went -down and down till they came to the sea. - -“Now let go,” said the gander, “and find your way home the best way you -can, for I have lost a great deal of time with you already, and must -be away;” and he shook off Shaun-Mor, who dropped plump down into the -sea, and when he was almost dead a great whale came sailing by, and -flapped him all over with its fins. He knew no more till he opened his -eyes lying on the grass in his own field by a great stone, and his wife -was standing over him drenching him with a great pail of water, and -flapping his face with her apron. - -And then he told his wife the whole story, which he said was true as -gospel, but I don’t think she believed a word of it, though she was -afraid to let on the like to Shaun-Mor, who affirms to this day that it -was all the work of the fairies, though wicked people might laugh and -jeer and say he was drunk. - - -THE CAVE FAIRIES. - - -THE TUATHA-DE-DANANN. - - -It is believed by many people that the cave fairies are the remnant -of the ancient Tuatha-de-Dananns who once ruled Ireland, but were -conquered by the Milesians. - -These Tuatha were great necromancers, skilled in all magic, and -excellent in all the arts as builders, poets, and musicians. At first -the Milesians were going to destroy them utterly, but gradually were -so fascinated and captivated by the gifts and power of the Tuatha that -they allowed them to remain and to build forts, where they held high -festival with music and singing and the chant of the bards. And the -breed of horses they reared could not be surpassed in the world—fleet -as the wind, with the arched neck and the broad chest and the quivering -nostril, and the large eye that showed they were made of fire and -flame, and not of dull, heavy earth. And the Tuatha made stables for -them in the great caves of the hills, and they were shod with silver -and had golden bridles, and never a slave was allowed to ride them. -A splendid sight was the cavalcade of the Tuatha-de-Danann knights. -Seven-score steeds, each with a jewel on his forehead like a star, and -seven-score horsemen, all the sons of kings, in their green mantles -fringed with gold, and golden helmets on their head, and golden greaves -on their limbs, and each knight having in his hand a golden spear. - -And so they lived for a hundred years and more, for by their -enchantments they could resist the power of death. - - -EDAIN THE QUEEN. - - -Now it happened that the king of Munster one day saw a beautiful girl -bathing, and he loved her and made her his queen. And in all the land -was no woman so lovely to look upon as the fair Edain, and the fame of -her beauty came to the ears of the great and powerful chief and king of -the Tuatha-de-Danann, Midar by name. So he disguised himself and went -to the court of the king of Munster, as a wandering bard, that he might -look on the beauty of Edain. And he challenged the king to a game of -chess. - -“Who is this man that I should play chess with him?” said the king. - -“Try me,” said the stranger; “you will find me a worthy foe.” - -Then the king said—“But the chess-board is in the queen’s apartment, -and I cannot disturb her.” - -However, when the queen heard that a stranger had challenged the king -to chess, she sent her page in with the chess-board, and then came -herself to greet the stranger. And Midar was so dazzled with her -beauty, that he could not speak, he could only gaze on her. And the -queen also seemed troubled, and after a time she left them alone. - -“Now, what shall we play for?” asked the king. - -“Let the conqueror name the reward,” answered the stranger, “and -whatever he desires let it be granted to him.” - -“Agreed,” replied the monarch. - -Then they played the game and the stranger won. - -“What is your demand now?” cried the king. “I have given my word that -whatever you name shall be yours.” - -“I demand the Lady Edain, the queen, as my reward,” replied the -stranger. “But I shall not ask you to give her up to me till this day -year.” And the stranger departed. - -Now the king was utterly perplexed and confounded, but he took good -note of the time, and on that night just a twelvemonth after, he made a -great feast at Tara for all the princes, and he placed three lines of -his chosen warriors all round the palace, and forbade any stranger to -enter on pain of death. So all being secure, as he thought, he took his -place at the feast with the beautiful Edain beside him, all glittering -with jewels and a golden crown on her head, and the revelry went on -till midnight. Just then, to his horror, the king looked up, and there -stood the stranger in the middle of the hall, but no one seemed to -perceive him save only the king, He fixed his eyes on the queen, and -coming towards her, he struck the golden harp he had in his hand and -sang in a low sweet voice— - - “O Edain, wilt thou come with me - To a wonderful palace that is mine? - White are the teeth there, and black the brows, - And crimson as the mead are the lips of the lovers. - - “O woman, if thou comest to my proud people, - ’Tis a golden crown shall circle thy head, - Thou shalt dwell by the sweet streams of my land, - And drink of the mead and wine in the arms of thy lover.” - -Then he gently put his arm round the queen’s waist, and drew her up -from her royal throne, and went forth with her through the midst of -all the guests, none hindering, and the king himself was like one -in a dream, and could neither speak nor move. But when he recovered -himself, then he knew that the stranger was one of the fairy chiefs of -the Tuatha-de-Danann who had carried off the beautiful Edain to his -fairy mansion. So he sent round messengers to all the kings of Erin -that they should destroy all the forts of the hated Tuatha race, and -slay and kill and let none live till the queen, his young bride, was -brought back to him. Still she came not. Then the king out of revenge -ordered his men to block up all the stables where the royal horses of -the Dananns were kept, that so they might die of hunger; but the horses -were of noble blood, and no bars or bolts could hold them, and they -broke through the bars and rushed out like the whirlwind, and spread -all over the country. And the kings, when they saw the beauty of the -horses, forgot all about the search for Queen Edain, and only strove -how they could seize and hold as their own some of the fiery steeds -with the silver hoofs and golden bridles. Then the king raged in his -wrath, and sent for the chief of the Druids, and told him he should -be put to death unless he discovered the place where the queen lay -hid. So the Druid went over all Ireland, and searched, and made spells -with oghams, and at last, having carved four oghams on four wands of a -hazel-tree, it was revealed to him that deep down in a hill in the very -centre of Ireland, Queen Edain was hidden away in the enchanted palace -of Midar the fairy chief. - -Then the king gathered a great army, and they circled the hill, and -dug down and down till they came to the very centre; and just as -they reached the gate of the fairy palace, Midar by his enchantments -sent forth fifty beautiful women from the hillside, to distract the -attention of the warriors, all so like the queen in form and features -and dress, that the king himself could not make out truly, if his own -wife were amongst them or not. But Edain, when she saw her husband so -near her, was touched by love of him in her heart, and the power of -the enchantment fell from her soul, and she came to him, and he lifted -her up on his horse and kissed her tenderly, and brought her back -safely to his royal palace of Tara, where they lived happily ever after. - - * * * * * - -But soon after the power of the Tuatha-de-Danann was broken for ever, -and the remnant that was left took refuge in the caves where they exist -to this day, and practise their magic, and work spells, and are safe -from death until the judgment day. - - -THE ROYAL STEED. - - -Of the great breed of splendid horses, some remained for several -centuries, and were at once known by their noble shape and qualities. -The last of them belonged to a great lord in Connaught, and when he -died, all his effects being sold by auction, the royal steed came to -the hammer, and was bought up by an emissary of the English Government, -who wanted to get possession of a specimen of the magnificent ancient -Irish breed, in order to have it transported to England. - -But when the groom attempted to mount the high-spirited animal, it -reared, and threw the base-born churl violently to the ground, killing -him on the spot. - -Then, fleet as the wind, the horse galloped away, and finally plunged -into the lake and was seen no more. So ended the great race of the -mighty Tuatha-de-Danann horses in Ireland, the like of which has never -been seen since in all the world for majesty and beauty. - - * * * * * - -Sometimes the cave fairies make a straight path in the sea from one -island to another, all paved with coral, under the water; but no -one can tread it except the fairy race. Fishermen coming home late -at night, on looking down, have frequently seen them passing and -re-passing—a black band of little men with black dogs, who are very -fierce if any one tries to touch them. - -There was an old man named Con, who lived on an island all alone, -except for a black dog who kept him company. Now all the people knew -right well that he was a fairy king, and could walk the water at night -like the other fairies. So they feared him greatly, and brought him -presents of cakes and fowls, for they were afraid of him and of his -evil demon, the dog. For often, men coming home late have heard the -steps of this dog and his breathing quite close to them, though they -could not see him; and one man nearly died of fright, and was only -saved by the priest who came and prayed over him. - -But the cave fairies can assume many forms. - -One summer’s evening, a young girl, the daughter of the man who owned -the farm, was milking the cows in the yard, when three beautiful -ladies, all in white, suddenly appeared, and asked her for a drink of -milk. Now the girl knew well that milk should not be given away without -using some precaution against fairy wiles, so she hesitated, fearing to -bring ill-luck on the cows. - -“Is that the way you treat us?” said one of the ladies, and she slapped -the girl on the face. - -“But, you’ll remember us,” said the second lady, and she took hold of -the girl’s thumb and twisted it out of joint. - -“And your lover will be false to you,” said the third, and with that -she turned the girl’s mantle crooked, the back to the front. - -Then the first lady took a vessel and milked the cow, and they all -drank of the milk as much as they wanted; after which they turned to -the girl and bade her beware of again offending the spirits of the -cave, for they were very powerful, and would not let her off so easily -another time. - -The poor girl fainted from fright, and was found quite senseless when -they came to look for her; but the white ladies had disappeared. Though -the story must have been true, just as she told it when she came to her -senses, for not a drop of milk was left in the pail, nor could a drop -more be got from the cows all that evening. - - -EVIL SPELLS. - - -CATHAL THE KING. - - -It is said by the wise women and fairy doctors that the roots of the -elder tree, and the roots of an apple tree that bears red apples, if -boiled together and drunk fasting, will expel any evil living thing or -evil spirit that may have taken up its abode in the body of a man. - -But an evil charm to produce a living thing in the body can also be -made, by pronouncing a certain magic and wicked spell over the food or -drink taken by any person that an enemy wishes to injure. - -One should therefore be very cautious in accepting anything to eat from -a person of known malicious tongue and spiteful heart, or who has an -ill will against you, for poison lies in their glance and in the touch -of their hands; and an evil spell is in their very presence, and on all -they do, say, or touch. - -Cathal, king of Munster, was the tallest and handsomest of all the -kings of Erin, and he fell deeply in love with the beautiful sister -of Fergus, king of Ulster; and the lovers were happy in their love -and resolved on marriage. But Fergus, King of the North, had a mortal -hatred to Cathal, King of the South, and wished, in secret, to prevent -the marriage. So he set a watch over his sister, and by this means -found out that she was sending a basket of the choicest apples to her -lover, by the hands of a trusty messenger. On this Fergus managed to -get hold of the basket of fruit from the messenger; and he changed them -secretly for another lot of apples, over which he worked an evil spell. -Furnished with these the messenger set out for Cashel, and presented -them to Cathal the king, who, delighted at this proof of love from his -princess, began at once to eat the apples. But the more he ate, the -more he longed for them, for a wicked spell was on every apple. When -he had eaten them all up, he sent round the country for more, and ate, -and ate, until there was not an apple left in Cashel, nor in all the -country round. - -Then he bade his chieftains go forth and bring in food to appease his -appetite; and he ate up all the cattle and the grain and the fruit, and -still cried for more; and had the houses searched for food to bring -to him. So the people were in despair, for they had no more food, and -starvation was over the land. - -Now a great and wise man, the chief poet of his tribe, happened to be -travelling through Munster at that time, and hearing of the king’s -state, he greatly desired to see him, for he knew there was devil’s -work in the evil spell. So they brought him to the king, and many -strong invocations he uttered over him, and many powerful incantations, -for poets have a knowledge of mysteries above all other men; until -finally, after three days had passed, he announced to the lords and -chiefs that on that night, when the moon rose, the spell would be -broken, and the king restored to his wonted health. So all the chiefs -gathered round in the courtyard to watch; but no one was allowed to -enter the room where the king lay, save only the poet. And he was to -give the signal when the hour had come and the spell was broken. - -So as they watched, and just as the moon rose, a great cry was heard -from the king’s room, and the poet, flinging open the door, bade the -chiefs enter; and there on the floor lay a huge dead wolf, who for -a whole year had taken up his abode in the king’s body; but was now -happily cast forth by the strong incantations of the poet. - -After this the king fell into a deep sleep, and when he arose he was -quite well, and strong again as ever, in all the pride of his youth and -beauty. At this the people rejoiced much, for he was greatly loved, and -the poet who had restored him was honoured above all men in the land; -for the king himself took off the golden torque from his own neck, and -placed it on that of the poet, and he set him at his right hand at the -feast. - -Now a strange thing happened just at this time; for Fergus, King -of the North, fell ill, and wasted away to a shadow, and of all the -beautiful meats and wines they set before him he could taste nothing. -So he died before a year had passed by; and then Cathal the king wedded -his beloved princess, and they lived happily through many years. - - -THE POET’S MALEDICTION. - - -The imprecations of the poets had often also a mysterious and fatal -effect. - -King Breas, the pagan monarch, was a fierce, cruel, and niggardly man, -who was therefore very unpopular with the people, who hate the cold -heart and the grudging hand. - -Amongst others who suffered by the king’s inhospitality, was the -renowned Carbury the poet, son of Eodain, the great poetess of the -Tuatha-de-Danann race; she who chanted the song of victory when her -people conquered the Firbolgs, on the plains of Moytura; and the stone -that she stood on, during the battle, in sight of all the warriors, is -still existing, and is pointed out as the stone of Eodain, the poetess, -with great reverence, even to this day. - -It was her son, Carbury the poet, who was held in such high honour by -the nation, that King Breas invited him to his court, in order that he -might pronounce a powerful malediction over the enemy with whom he was -then at war. - -Carbury came on the royal summons, but in place of being treated with -the distinction due to his high rank, he was lodged and fed so meanly -that the soul of the poet raged with wrath; for the king gave him for -lodgement only a small stone cell without fire or a bed; and for food -he had only three cakes of meal without any flesh meat or sauce, and -no wine was given him, such wine as is fit to light up the poet’s soul -before the divine mystic spirit of song can awake in its power within -him. So very early the next morning, the poet rose up and departed, -with much rage in his heart. But as he passed the king’s house he -stopped, and in place of a blessing, pronounced a terrible malediction -over Breas and his race, which can still be found in the ancient books -of Ireland, commencing thus— - - “Without fire, without bed, on the surface of the floor! - Without meat, without fowl, on the surface of the dish. - Three little dishes and no flesh thereon, - A cell without bed, a dish without meat, a cup without wine, - Are these fit offerings from a king to a poet? - May the king and his race be three times accursed for ever and - for ever!” - -Immediately three large blisters rose on the king’s forehead, and -remained there as a sign and mark of the poet’s vengeance. - -And from that day forth to his death, which happened not long after, -the reign of Breas was a time of sore trouble and disaster, for he -was three times defeated by his enemies, and from care and sorrow a -grievous disease fell on him; for though hungry he could not swallow -any food; and though all the meat and wine of the best was set before -him, yet his throat seemed closed, and though raging with hunger yet -not a morsel could pass his lips; and so he died miserably, starved -in the midst of plenty, and accursed in all things by the power and -malediction of the angry poet. - - -DRIMIAL AGUS THORIAL. -(A WICKED SPELL.) - - -When a girl wishes to gain the love of a man, and to make him marry -her, the dreadful spell is used called _Drimial Agus Thorial_. At -dead of night, she and an accomplice go to a churchyard, exhume a -newly-buried corpse, and take a strip of the skin from the head to the -heel. This is wound round the girl as a belt with a solemn invocation -to the devil for his help. - -After she has worn it for a day and a night she watches her opportunity -and ties it round the sleeping man whose love she desires; during which -process the name of God must not be mentioned. - -When he awakes the man is bound by the spell; and is forced to marry -the cruel and evil harpy. It is said the children of such marriages -bear a black mark round the wrist, and are known and shunned by the -people, who call them “sons of the devil.” - - -AN IRISH ADEPT OF THE ISLANDS. - - -Some persons, even at the present day amongst the peasants, have -strange gifts and a knowledge of the hidden mysteries, but they can -only impart this knowledge when they know that death is on them, and -then it must be to a female, to an unmarried man, or to a childless -woman, for these are the most susceptible to the mysterious power by -which miracles can be worked. - -A man now living at Innis-Sark has this strange and mystic gift. He -can heal diseases by a word, even at a distance, and his glance sees -into the very heart, and reads the secret thoughts of men. He never -touched beer, spirits, or meat, in all his life, but has lived entirely -on bread, fruit, and vegetables. A man who knew him thus describes -him—“Winter and summer his dress is the same, merely a flannel shirt -and coat. He will pay his share at a feast, but neither eats nor drinks -of the food and drink set before him. He speaks no English, and never -could be made to learn the English tongue, though he says it might be -used with great effect to curse one’s enemy. He holds a burial-ground -sacred, and would not carry away so much as a leaf of ivy from a -grave. And he maintains that the people are right in keeping to their -ancient usages, such as never to dig a grave on a Monday; and to carry -the coffin three times round the grave, following the course of the -sun, for then the dead rest in peace. Like the people, also, he holds -suicides as accursed; for they believe that all the dead who have been -recently buried turn over on their faces if a suicide is laid amongst -them. - -“Though well off he never, even in his youth, thought of taking a wife, -nor was he ever known to love a woman. He stands quite apart from life, -and by this means holds his power over the mysteries. No money will -tempt him to impart this knowledge to another, for if he did he would -be struck dead—so he believes. He would not touch a hazel stick, but -carries an ash wand, which he holds in his hand when he prays, laid -across his knees, and the whole of his life is devoted to works of -grace and charity.” - -Though now an old man he has never had a day’s sickness. No one has -ever seen him in a rage, nor heard an angry word from his lips but -once; and then being under great irritation, he recited the Lord’s -Prayer backwards, as an imprecation on his enemy. Before his death he -will reveal the mystery of his power, but not till the hand of death is -on him for certain. - - -THE MAY FESTIVAL. - - -There were four great festivals held in Ireland from the most ancient -pagan times, and these four sacred seasons were February, May, -Midsummer, and November. May was the most memorable and auspicious of -all; then the Druids lit the _Baal-Tinne_, the holy, goodly fire of -Baal, the Sun-god, and they drove the cattle on a path made between two -fires, and singed them with the flame of a lighted torch, and sometimes -they cut them to spill blood, and then burnt the blood as a sacred -offering to the Sun-god. - -The great feast of Bel, or the Sun, took place on May Eve; and that of -Samhain, or the Moon, on November Eve; when libations were poured out -to appease the evil spirits, and also the spirits of the dead, who come -out of their graves on that night to visit their ancient homes. - -The Phœnicians, it is known, adored the Supreme Being under the name of -Bel-Samen, and it is remarkable that the peasants in Ireland, wishing -you good luck, say in Irish, “The blessing of Bel, and the blessing of -Samhain, be with you,” that is, of the sun and of the moon. - -These were the great festivals of the Druids, when all domestic fires -were extinguished, in order to be re-lit by the sacred fire taken from -the temples, for it was deemed sacrilege to have any fires kindled -except from the holy altar flame. - -St. Patrick, however, determined to break down the power of the Druids; -and, therefore, in defiance of their laws, he had a great fire lit -on May Eve, when he celebrated the paschal mysteries; and henceforth -Easter, or the Feast of the Resurrection, took the place of the Baal -festival. - -The Baal fires were originally used for human sacrifices and -burnt-offerings of the first-fruits of the cattle; but after -Christianity was established the children and cattle were only passed -between two fires for purification from sin, and as a safeguard against -the power of the devil. - -The Persians also extinguished the domestic fires on the Baal festival, -the 21st of April, and were obliged to re-light them from the temple -fires, for which the priests were paid a fee in silver money. A fire -kindled by rubbing two pieces of wood together was also considered -lucky by the Persians; then water was boiled over the flame, and -afterwards sprinkled on the people and on the cattle. The ancient Irish -ritual resembles the Persian in every particular, and the Druids, no -doubt, held the traditional worship exactly as brought from the East, -the land of the sun and of tree worship and well worship. - -May Day, called in Irish _Là-Beltaine_, the day of the Baal fires, was -the festival of greatest rejoicing held in Ireland. But the fairies -have great power at that season, and children and cattle, and the -milk and butter, must be well guarded from their influence. A spent -coal must be put under the churn, and another under the cradle; and -primroses must be scattered before the door, for the fairies cannot -pass the flowers. Children that die in April are supposed to be carried -off by the fairies, who are then always on the watch to abduct whatever -is young and beautiful for their fairy homes. - -Sometimes on the 1st of May, a sacred heifer, snow white, appeared -amongst the cattle; and this was considered to bring the highest good -luck to the farmer. An old Irish song that alludes to the heifer, may -be translated thus— - - “There is a cow on the mountain, - A fair white cow; - She goes East and she goes West, - And my senses have gone for love of her; - She goes with the sun and he forgets to burn, - And the moon turns her face with love to her, - My fair white cow of the mountain.” - -The fairies are in the best of humours upon May Eve, and the music of -the fairy pipes may be heard all through the night, while the fairy -folk are dancing upon the rath. It is then they carry off the young -people to join their revels; and if a girl has once danced to the fairy -music, she will move ever after with such fascinating grace, that it -has passed into a proverb to say of a good dancer, “She has danced to -fairy music on the hill.” - -At the great long dance held in old times on May Day, all the people -held hands and danced round a great May-bush erected on a mound. The -circle sometimes extended for a mile, the girls wearing garlands, and -the young men carrying wands of green boughs, while the elder people -sat round on the grass as spectators, and applauded the ceremony. The -tallest and strongest young men in the county stood in the centre and -directed the movements, while the pipers and harpers, wearing green and -gold sashes, played the most spirited dance tunes. - -The oldest worship of the world was of the sun and moon, of trees, -wells, and the serpent that gave wisdom. Trees were the symbol of -knowledge, and the dance round the May-bush is part of the ancient -ophite ritual. The Baila also, or waltz, is associated with Baal -worship, where the two circling motions are combined; the revolution of -the planet on its own axis, and also round the sun. - -In Italy, this ancient festival, called _Calendi Maggio_, is celebrated -in the rural districts much in the Irish way. Dante fell in love at the -great May Day festival, held in the Portinari Palace. The Sclavonic -nations likewise light sacred fires, and dance round a tree hung with -garlands on May Day. This reverence for the tree is one of the oldest -superstitions of humanity and the most universal, and the fires are a -relic of the old pagan worship paid to the Grynian Apollo—fire above -all things being held sacred by the Irish as a safeguard from evil -spirits. It is a saying amongst them, “Fire and salt are the two most -sacred things given to man, and if you give them away on May Day, you -give away your luck for the year.” Therefore no one will allow milk, or -fire, or salt, to be carried away from the house on that day; and if -people came in and asked for a lighted sod, they would be driven away -with curses, for their purpose was evil. - -The witches, however, make great efforts to steal the milk on May -morning, and if they succeed, the luck passes from the family, and the -milk and butter for the whole year will belong to the fairies. The best -preventative is to scatter primroses on the threshold; and the old -women tie bunches of primroses to the cows’ tails, for the evil spirits -cannot touch anything guarded by these flowers, if they are plucked -before sunrise, not else. A piece of iron, also, made red hot, is -placed upon the hearth; any old iron will do, the older the better, and -branches of whitethorn and mountain ash are wreathed round the doorway -for luck. The mountain ash has very great and mysterious qualities. If -a branch of it be woven into the roof, that house is safe from fire -for a year at least, and if a branch of it is mixed with the timber -of a boat, no storm will upset it, and no man in it will be drowned -for a twelvemonth certain. To save milk from witchcraft, the people on -May morning cut and peel some branches of the mountain ash, and bind -the twigs round the milk pails and the churn. No witch or fairy will -then be able to steal the milk or butter. But all this must be done -_before sunrise_. However, should butter be missed, follow the cow to -the field, and gather the clay her hoof has touched; then, on returning -home, place it under the churn with a live coal and a handful of salt, -and your butter is safe from man or woman, fairy or fiend, for that -year. There are other methods also to preserve a good supply of butter -in the churn; a horse-shoe tied on it; a rusty nail from a coffin -driven into the side; a cross made of the leaves of veronica placed at -the bottom of the milk pail; but the mountain ash is the best of all -safeguards against witchcraft and devil’s magic. Without some of these -precautions the fairies will certainly overlook the churn, and the milk -and butter, in consequence, will fail all through the year, and the -farmer suffer great loss. Herbs gathered on May Eve have a mystical and -strong virtue for curing disease; and powerful potions are made then by -the skilful herb women and fairy doctors, which no sickness can resist, -chiefly of the yarrow, called in Irish “the herb of seven needs” or -cures, from its many and great virtues. Divination is also practised to -a great extent by means of the yarrow. The girls dance round it singing— - - “Yarrow, yarrow, yarrow, - I bid thee good morrow, - And tell me before to-morrow - Who my true love shall be.” - -The herb is then placed under the head at night, and in dreams the -true lover will appear. Another mode of divination for the future fate -in life is by snails. The young girls go out early before sunrise -to trace the path of the snails in the clay, for always a letter is -marked, and this is the initial of the true lover’s name. A black snail -is very unlucky to meet first in the morning, for his trail would read -_death_; but a white snail brings good fortune. A white lamb on the -right hand is also good; but the cuckoo is ominous of evil. Of old the -year began with the 1st of May, and an ancient Irish rhyme says— - - “A white lamb on my right side, - So will good come to me; - But not the little false cuckoo - On the first day of the year.” - -Prophecies were also made from the way the wind blew on May mornings. -In ’98 an old man, who was drawing near to his end and like to die, -inquired from those around him— - -“Where did you leave the wind last night?” (May Eve.) - -They told him it came from the north. - -“Then,” he said, “the country is lost to the Clan Gael; our enemies -will triumph. Had it been from the south, we should have had the -victory; but now the Sassenach will trample us to dust.” And he fell -back and died. - -Ashes are often sprinkled on the threshold on May Eve; and if the print -of a foot is found in the morning, turned inward, it betokens marriage; -but if turned outward, death. On May Eve the fairy music is heard on -all the hills, and many beautiful tunes have been caught up in this way -by the people and the native musicians. - -About a hundred years ago a celebrated tune, called _Moraleana_, was -learnt by a piper as he traversed the hills one evening; and he played -it perfectly, note by note, as he heard it from the fairy pipes; on -which a voice spoke to him and said that he would be allowed to play -the tune _three times_ in his life before all the people, but never a -fourth, or a doom would fall on him. However, one day he had a great -contest for supremacy with another piper, and at last, to make sure -of victory, he played the wonderful fairy melody; when all the people -applauded and declared he had won the prize by reason of its beauty, -and that no music could equal his. So they crowned him with the -garland; but at that moment he turned deadly pale, the pipes dropped -from his hand, and he fell lifeless to the ground. For nothing escapes -the fairies; they know all things, and their vengeance is swift and -sure. - -It is very dangerous to sleep out in the open air in the month of May, -for the fairies are very powerful then, and on the watch to carry off -the handsome girls for fairy brides, and the young mothers as nurses -for the fairy babies; while the young men are selected as husbands for -the beautiful fairy princesses. - -A young man died suddenly on May Eve while he was lying asleep under -a hay-rick, and the parents and friends knew immediately that he had -been carried off to the fairy palace in the great moat of Granard. So a -renowned fairy man was sent for, who promised to have him back in nine -days. Meanwhile he desired that food and drink of the best should be -left daily for the young man at a certain place on the moat. This was -done, and the food always disappeared, by which they knew the young man -was living, and came out of the moat nightly for the provisions left -for him by his people. - -Now on the ninth day a great crowd assembled to see the young man -brought back from Fairyland. And in the midst stood the fairy doctor -performing his incantations by means of fire and a powder which he -threw into the flames that caused a dense grey smoke to arise. Then, -taking off his hat, and holding a key in his hand, he called out three -times in a loud voice, “Come forth, come forth, come forth!” On which a -shrouded figure slowly rose up in the midst of the smoke, and a voice -was heard answering, “Leave me in peace; I am happy with my fairy -bride, and my parents need not weep for me, for I shall bring them good -luck, and guard them from evil evermore.” - -Then the figure vanished and the smoke cleared, and the parents were -content, for they believed the vision, and having loaded the fairy-man -with presents, they sent him away home. - - -MAY-DAY SUPERSTITIONS. - - -The marsh marigold is considered of great use in divination, and is -called “the shrub of Beltaine.” Garlands are made of it for the cattle -and the door-posts to keep off the fairy power. Milk also is poured -on the threshold, though none would be given away; nor fire, nor -salt—these three things being sacred. There are many superstitions -concerning May-time. It is not safe to go on the water the first Monday -in May. Hares found on May morning are supposed to be witches, and -should be stoned. - -If the fire goes out on May morning it is considered very unlucky, -and it cannot be re-kindled except by a lighted sod brought from the -priest’s house. And the ashes of this blessed turf are afterwards -sprinkled on the floor and the threshold of the house. Neither fire, -nor water, nor milk, nor salt should be given away for love or money, -and if a wayfarer is given a cup of milk, he must drink it in the -house, and salt must be mixed with it. Salt and water as a drink is at -all times considered a potent charm against evil, if properly prepared -by a fairy doctor and the magic words said over it. - -One day in May a young girl lay down to rest at noontide on a fairy -rath and fell asleep—a thing of great danger, for the fairies are -strong in power during the May month, and are particularly on the watch -for a mortal bride to carry away to the fairy mansions, for they love -the sight of human beauty. So they spirited away the young sleeping -girl, and only left a shadowy resemblance of her lying on the rath. -Evening came on, and as the young girl had not returned, her mother -sent out messengers in all directions to look for her. At last she was -found on the fairy rath, lying quite unconscious, like one dead. - -They carried her home and laid her on her bed, but she neither spoke -nor moved. So three days passed over. Then they thought it right to -send for the fairy doctor. At once he said that she was fairy struck, -and he gave them a salve made of herbs to anoint her hands and her -brow every morning at sunrise, and every night when the moon rose; and -salt was sprinkled on the threshold and round her bed where she lay -sleeping. This was done for six days and six nights, and then the girl -rose up suddenly and asked for food. They gave her to eat, but asked -no questions, only watched her that she should not quit the house. And -then she fixed her eyes on them steadily and said— - -“Why did you bring me back? I was so happy. I was in a beautiful palace -where lovely ladies and young princes were dancing to the sweetest -music; and they made me dance with them, and threw a mantle over me of -rich gold; and now it is all gone, and you have brought me back, and I -shall never, never see the beautiful palace more.” - -Then the mother wept and said— - -“Oh, child, stay with me, for I have no other daughter, and if the -fairies take you from me I shall die.” - -When the girl heard this, she fell on her mother’s neck and kissed her, -and promised that she would never again go near the fairy rath while -she lived, for the fairy doctor told her that if ever she lay down -there again and slept, she would never return alive to her home any -more. - - -FESTIVALS. - - -CANDLEMAS. - - -Candlemas day, the 2nd of February, used to be held in the old pagan -times as a kind of saturnalia, with dances and torches and many unholy -rites. But these gave occasion to so much ill conduct that in the ninth -century the Pope abolished the festival, and substituted for it the -Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, when candles were lit -in her honour. Hence the name of Candlemas. - - -WHITSUNTIDE. - - -Whitsuntide is a very fatal and unlucky time. Especially beware of -water then, for there is an evil spirit in it, and no one should -venture to bathe, nor to sail in a boat for fear of being drowned; nor -to go a journey where water has to be crossed. And everything in the -house must be sprinkled with holy water at Whitsuntide to keep away the -fairies, who at that season are very active and malicious, and bewitch -the cattle, and carry off the young children, and come up from the sea -to hold strange midnight revels, when they kill with their fairy darts -the unhappy mortal who crosses their path and pries at their mysteries. - - -WHITSUNTIDE LEGEND OF THE FAIRY HORSES. - - -There was a widow woman with one son, who had a nice farm of her own -close to a lake, and she took great pains in the cultivation of the -land, and her corn was the best in the whole country. But when nearly -ripe, and just fit for cutting, she found to her dismay that every -night it was trampled down and cruelly damaged; yet no one could tell -by what means it was done. - -So she set her son to watch. And at midnight he heard a great noise and -a rushing of waves on the beach, and up out of the lake came a great -troop of horses, who began to graze the corn and trample it down madly -with their hoofs. - -When he told all this to his mother she bade him watch the next night -also, but to take several of the men with him furnished with bridles, -and when the horses rose from the lake they were to fling the bridles -over as many as they could catch. - -Now at midnight there was the same noise heard again, and the rush of -the waves, and in an instant all the field was filled with the fairy -horses, grazing the corn and trampling it down. The men pursued them, -but only succeeded in capturing one, and he was the noblest of the lot. -The rest all plunged back into the lake. However, the men brought home -the captured horse to the widow, and he was put in the stable and grew -big and strong, and never another horse came up out of the lake, nor -was the corn touched after that night of his capture. But when a year -had passed by the widow said it was a shame to keep so fine a horse -idle, and she bade the young man, her son, take him out to the hunt -that was held that day by all the great gentry of the country, for it -was Whitsuntide. - -And, in truth, the horse carried him splendidly at the hunt, and every -one admired both the fine young rider and his steed. But as he was -returning home, when they came within sight of the lake from which the -fairy steed had risen, he began to plunge violently, and finally threw -his rider. And the young man’s foot being unfortunately caught in the -stirrup, he was dragged along till he was torn limb from limb, while -the horse still continued galloping on madly to the water, leaving some -fragment of the unhappy lad after him on the road, till they reached -the margin of the lake, when the horse shook off the last limb of the -dead youth from him, and plunging into the waves disappeared from sight. - -The people reverently gathered up the remains of the dead, and erected -a monument of stones over the lad in a field by the edge of the lake; -and every one that passes by still lays a stone and says a prayer that -the spirit of the dead may rest in peace. - -The phantom horses were never seen again, but the lake has an evil -reputation even to this day amongst the people; and no one would -venture a boat on it after sundown at Whitsuntide, or during the time -of the ripening of the corn, or when the harvest is ready for the -sickle, for strange sounds are heard at night, like the wild galloping -of a horse across the meadow, along with the cries as of a man in his -death agony. - - -NOVEMBER SPELLS. - - -The ancient Irish divided the year into summer and winter—_Samrath_ -and _Gheimrath_; the former beginning in May, the latter in November, -called also _Sam-fuim_ (summer end). At this season, when the sun -dies, the powers of darkness exercise great and evil influence over -all things. The witch-women say they can then ride at night through -the air with Diana of the Ephesians, and Herodias, and others leagued -with the devil; and change men to beasts; and ride with the dead and -cover leagues of ground on swift spirit-horses. Also on November Eve, -by certain incantations, the dead can be made to appear and answer -questions; but for this purpose blood must be sprinkled on the dead -body when it rises; for it is said the spirits love blood. The colour -excites them and gives them for the time the power and the semblance of -life. - -Divination by fire, by earth, and by water, is also largely practised; -but, as an ancient writer has observed, “All such divinations are -accursed, for they are worked by the power of the fallen angels, -who give knowledge only through malice, and to bring evil on the -questioner. Neither should times and seasons be held lucky or unlucky, -nor the course of the moon, nor the death of the sun, nor the so-called -Egyptian days; for all things are blessed to a Christian. And this is -the doctrine of the Holy Church, which all men should take to heart.... -But a prayer to God, written fine, may be worn tyed round the neck, for -this is done in a holy spirit, and is not against the ordinances of the -Church.” - -The scapular here alluded to is a piece of cloth on which the name -of Mary is written on one side and I.H.S. on the other. It preserves -against evil spirits, and is a passport to heaven, and ensures against -the pains of hell; for the Blessed Virgin takes the wearer under her -especial care. It is placed in a little silk bag and worn tied round -the neck, and is left upon the dead in their coffin for the angels to -see at the resurrection. The scapular is never given to an evil liver, -so it is a sign both of a pious life here and a blessed life hereafter. - - -NOVEMBER EVE. - - -All the spells worked on November Eve are performed in the name of the -devil, who is then forced to reveal the future fate of the questioner. -The most usual spell is to wash a garment in a running brook, then -hang it on a thorn bush, and wait to see the apparition of the lover, -who will come to turn it. But the tricks played on this night by young -persons on each other have often most disastrous consequences. One -young girl fell dead with fright when an apparition really came and -turned the garment she had hung on the bush. And a lady narrates that -on the 1st of November her servant rushed into the room and fainted on -the floor. On recovering, she said that she had played a trick that -night in the name of the devil before the looking-glass; but what she -had seen she dared not speak of, though the remembrance of it would -never leave her brain, and she knew the shock would kill her. They -tried to laugh her out of her fears, but the next night she was found -quite dead, with her features horribly contorted, lying on the floor -before the looking-glass, which was shivered to pieces. - -Another spell is the building of the house. Twelve couples are taken, -each being made of two holly twigs tied together with a hempen thread; -these are all named and stuck round in a circle in the clay. A live -coal is then placed in the centre, and whichever couple catches fire -first will assuredly be married. Then the future husband is invoked in -the name of the Evil One to appear and quench the flame. - -On one occasion a dead man in his shroud answered the call, and -silently drew away the girl from the rest of the party. The fright -turned her brain, and she never recovered her reason afterwards. The -horror of that apparition haunted her for ever, especially as on -November Eve it is believed firmly that the dead really leave their -graves and have power to appear amongst the living. - - * * * * * - -A young girl in a farmer’s service was in the loft one night looking -for eggs when two men came into the stable underneath, and through a -chink in the boards she could see them quite well and hear all they -said. To her horror she found that they were planning the murder of a -man in the neighbourhood who was suspected of being an informer, and -they settled how they would get rid of the body by throwing it into -the Shannon. She crept home half dead with fright, but did not venture -to tell any one what she had heard. Next day, however, the news spread -that the man was missing, and it was feared he was murdered. Still -the girl was afraid to reveal what she knew, though the ghost of the -murdered man seemed for ever before her. Finally she could bear the -place no longer, and, giving up her situation, she went to another -village some miles off and took service. But on November Eve, as she -was washing clothes in the Shannon, the dead body of the murdered man -arose from the water and floated towards her, until it lay quite close -to her feet. Then she knew the hand of God was in it, and that the -spirit of the dead would not rest till he was avenged. So she went and -gave information, and on her evidence the two murderers were convicted -and executed. - - * * * * * - -If the cattle fall sick at this season, it is supposed that some old -fairy man or woman is lying hid about the place to spy out the doings -of the family and work some evil spells. - -A farmer had a splendid cow, the pride of his farm, but suddenly it -seemed ailing and gave no milk, though every morning it went and -stood quite patiently under an old hawthorn-tree as if some one were -milking her. So the man watched the time, and presently the cow came -of herself and stood under the hawthorn, when a little old wizened -woman came forth from the trunk of the tree, milked the cow, and then -retreated into the tree again. On this the farmer sent at once for a -fairy doctor, who exorcised the cow and gave it a strong potion, after -which the spell was broken and the cow was restored to its usual good -condition and gave the milk as heretofore. - - * * * * * - -The fairies also exercise a malign influence by making a path through -a house, when all the children begin to pine and a blight falls on the -family. - -A farmer who had lost one son by heart disease (always a mysterious -malady to the peasants) and another by gradual decay, consulted a wise -fairy woman as to what should be done, for his wife also had become -delicate and weak. The woman told him that on November Eve the fairies -had made a road through the house, and were going back and forward ever -since, and whatever they looked upon was doomed. The only remedy was to -build up the old door and open another entrance. This the man did, and -when the witch-women came as usual in the morning to beg for water or -milk or meal they found no door, and were obliged to turn back. After -this the spell was taken off the household, and they all prospered -without fear of the fairies. - - -A TERRIBLE REVENGE. - - -The fairies often take a terrible revenge if they are ever slighted -or offended. A whole family once came under their ban because a fairy -woman had been refused admittance into the house. The eldest boy lost -his sight for some time, and though he recovered the use of his eyes -yet they always had a strange expression, as if he saw some terrible -object in the distance that scared him. And at last the neighbours grew -afraid of the family, for they brought ill-luck wherever they went, and -nothing prospered that they touched. - -There were six children, all wizened little creatures with withered -old faces and thin crooked fingers. Every one knew they were fairy -changelings, and the smith wanted to put them on the anvil, and the -wise women said they should be passed through the fire; but destiny -settled the future for them, for one after another they all pined -away and died, and the ban of the fairies was never lifted from the -ill-fated house till the whole family lay in the grave. - - -MIDSUMMER. - - -THE BAAL FIRES AND DANCES. - - -This season is still made memorable in Ireland by lighting fires on -every hill, according to the ancient pagan usage, when the Baal fires -were kindled as part of the ritual of sun-worship, though now they are -lit in honour of St. John. The great bonfire of the year is still made -on St. John’s Eve, when all the people dance round it, and every young -man takes a lighted brand from the pile to bring home with him for good -luck to the house. - -In ancient times the sacred fire was lighted with great ceremony on -Midsummer Eve; and on that night all the people of the adjacent country -kept fixed watch on the western promontory of Howth, and the moment the -first flash was seen from that spot the fact of ignition was announced -with wild cries and cheers repeated from village to village, when all -the local fires began to blaze, and Ireland was circled by a cordon of -flame rising up from every hill. Then the dance and song began round -every fire, and the wild hurrahs filled the air with the most frantic -revelry. - -Many of these ancient customs are still continued, and the fires are -still lighted on St. John’s Eve on every hill in Ireland. When the fire -has burned down to a red glow the young men strip to the waist and leap -over or through the flames; this is done backwards and forwards several -times, and he who braves the greatest blaze is considered the victor -over the powers of evil, and is greeted with tremendous applause. When -the fire burns still lower, the young girls leap the flame, and those -who leap clean over three times back and forward will be certain of -a speedy marriage and good luck in after life, with many children. -The married women then walk through the lines of the burning embers; -and when the fire is nearly burnt and trampled down, the yearling -cattle are driven through the hot ashes, and their back is singed with -a lighted hazel twig. These hazel rods are kept safely afterwards, -being considered of immense power to drive the cattle to and from the -watering places. As the fire diminishes the shouting grows fainter, -and the song and the dance commence; while professional story-tellers -narrate tales of fairy-land, or of the good old times long ago, when -the kings and princes of Ireland dwelt amongst their own people, and -there was food to eat and wine to drink for all comers to the feast at -the king’s house. When the crowd at length separate, every one carries -home a brand from the fire, and great virtue is attached to the lighted -_brone_ which is safely carried to the house without breaking or -falling to the ground. Many contests also arise amongst the young men; -for whoever enters his house first with the sacred fire brings the good -luck of the year with him. - -On the first Sunday in Midsummer all the young people used to stand in -lines after leaving chapel, to be hired for service—the girls holding -white hands, the young men each with an emblem of his trade. The -evening ended with a dance and the revelry was kept up until the dawn -of the next day, called “Sorrowful Monday,” because of the end of the -pleasure and the frolic. - - -THE FAIRY DOCTRESS. - - -But all this time the fairies were not idle; for it was at this very -season of dances and festivals, when the mortals around them were -happiest, that Finvarra the king and his chosen band were on the watch -to carry off the prettiest girls to the fairy mansions. - -There they kept them for seven years, and at the end of that time, -when they grew old and ugly, they were sent back, for the fairies love -nothing so much as youth and beauty. But as a compensation for the -slight put on them, the women were taught all the fairy secrets and the -magical mystery that lies in herbs, and the strange power they have -over diseases. So by this means the women became all-powerful, and by -their charms or spells or potions could kill or save as they chose. - -There was a woman of the islands greatly feared, yet respected by -the people for her knowledge of herbs, which gave her power over all -diseases. But she never revealed the nature of the herb, and always -gathered the leaves herself at night and hid them under the eaves of -the house. And if the person who carried the herb home let it fall to -the ground by the way, it lost its power; or if they talked of it or -showed it to any one, all the virtue went out of it. It was to be used -secretly and alone, and then the cure would be perfected without fail. - -One time, a man who was told of this came over from the mainland in a -boat with two other men to see the fairy woman; for he was lame from a -fall and could do no work. - -Now the woman knew they were coming, for she had a knowledge of all -things through the power of divination she had learned from the -fairies, and could see and hear though no man told her. So she went out -and prepared the herb, and made a salve and brewed a potion, and had -all ready for the man and his friends. - -When they appeared she stood at the door and cried, “Enter! This is the -lucky day and hour; have no fear, for you will be cured by the power -that is in me, and by the herb I give you.” - -Then the man bowed down before her, and said, “Oh, mother, this is my -case.” And he told her, that being out one day on the mountains, he -slipped and fell on his face. A mere slight fall, but when he rose up -his leg was powerless though no bone seemed broken. - -“I know how it happened,” she said. “You trod upon a fairy herb under -which the fairies were resting, and you disturbed them and broke in the -top of their dwelling, so they were angry and struck you on the leg and -lamed you out of spite. But my power is greater than theirs. Do as I -tell you and you will soon be cured.” - -So she gave him the salve and the bottle of potion, and bade him take -it home carefully and use it in silence and alone, and in three days -the power of the limb would come back to him. - -Then the man offered her silver; but she refused. - -“I do not sell my knowledge,” she said, “I give it. And so the strength -and the power remain with me.” - -On this the men went their way. But after three days a message came -from the man to say that he was cured. And he sent the wise woman a -handsome present also; for a gift works no evil, though to sell the -sacred power and mysteries of knowledge for money would be fatal; for -then the spirit of healing that dwelt in the woman would have fled away -and returned no more. - - -MARRIAGE RITES. - - -In old times in Ireland it was thought right and proper to seem to use -force in carrying off the bride to her husband. She was placed on a -swift horse before the bridegroom, while all her kindred started in -pursuit with shouts and cries. Twelve maidens attended the bride, and -each was placed on horseback behind the young men who rode after the -bridal pair. On arriving at her future home, the bride was met on the -threshold by the bridegroom’s mother, who broke an oaten cake over her -head as a good augury of plenty in the future. In the mountains where -horses cannot travel, the bridal party walk in procession; the young -men carrying torches of dried bogwood to light the bride over the -ravines, for in winter the mountain streams are rapid and dangerous to -cross. - -The Celtic ceremonial of marriage resembles the ancient Greek ritual -in many points. A traveller in Ireland some fifty years ago, before -politics had quite killed romance and ancient tradition in the hearts -of the people, thus describes a rustic marriage festival which he came -on by chance one evening in the wilds of Kerry:— - -A large hawthorn tree that stood in the middle of a field near a -stream was hung all over with bits of coloured stuff, while lighted -rush candles were placed here and there amongst the branches, to -symbolize, no doubt, the new life of brightness preparing for the -bridal pair. Then came a procession of boys marching slowly with flutes -and pipes made of hollow reeds, and one struck a tin can with a stick -at intervals, with a strong rhythmical cadence. This represented the -plectrum. Others rattled slates and bones between their fingers, and -beat time, after the manner of the Crotolistrai—a rude attempt at -music, which appears amongst all nations of the earth, even the most -savage. A boy followed, bearing a lighted torch of bogwood. Evidently -he was Hymen, and the flame of love was his cognizance. After him came -the betrothed pair hand-in-hand, a large square canopy of black stuff -being held over their heads; the emblem, of course, of the mystery of -love, shrouded and veiled from the prying light of day. - -Behind the pair followed two attendants bearing high over the heads of -the young couple a sieve filled with meal; a sign of the plenty that -would be in their house, and an omen of good luck and the blessing of -children. - -A wild chorus of dancers and singers closed the procession; the chorus -of the epithalamium, and grotesque figures, probably the traditional -fauns and satyrs, nymphs and bacchanals, mingled together with mad -laughter and shouts and waving of green branches. - -The procession then moved on to a bonfire, evidently the ancient altar; -and having gone round it three times, the black shroud was lifted from -the bridal pair, and they kissed each other before all the people, who -shouted and waved their branches in approval. - -Then the preparations for the marriage supper began, on which, however, -the traveller left them, having laid some money on the altar as an -offering of good-will for the marriage future. At the wedding supper -there was always plenty of eating and drinking, and dancing and the -feast were prolonged till near morning, when the wedding song was sung -by the whole party of friends standing, while the bride and bridegroom -remained seated at the head of the table. The chorus of one of these -ancient songs may be thus literally translated from the Irish— - - “It is not day, nor yet day, - It is not day, nor yet morning; - It is not day, nor yet day, - For the moon is shining brightly.” - -Another marriage song was sung in Irish frequently, each verse ending -with the lines— - - “There is sweet enchanting music, and the golden harps are ringing; - And twelve comely maidens deck the bride-bed for the bride.” - -A beautiful new dress was presented to the bride by her husband at the -marriage feast; at which also the father paid down her dowry before the -assembled guests; and all the place round the house was lit by torches -when night came on, and the song and the dance continued till daylight, -with much speech-making and drinking of poteen. All fighting was -steadily avoided at a wedding; for a quarrel would be considered a most -unlucky omen. A wet day was also held to be very unlucky, as the bride -would assuredly weep for sorrow throughout the year. But the bright -warm sunshine was hailed joyfully, according to the old saying— - - “Happy is the bride that the sun shines on; - But blessed is the corpse that the rain rains on.” - - -THE DEAD. - - -There are many strange superstitions concerning the dead. The people -seem to believe in their actual presence, though unseen, and to have a -great fear and dread of their fatal and mysterious power. - -If a person of doubtful character dies, too bad for heaven, too good -for hell, they imagine that his soul is sent back to earth, and obliged -to obey the order of some person who bids him remain in a particular -place until the Day of Judgment, or until another soul is found willing -to meet him there, and then they may both pass into heaven together, -absolved. - -An incident is related that happened in the County Galway, concerning -this superstition. - -A gentleman of rank and fortune, but of a free and dissipated life, -became the lover of a pretty girl, one of the tenant’s daughters. And -the girl was so devoted to him that perhaps he might have married her -at last; but he was killed suddenly, when out hunting, by a fall from -his horse. - -Some time after, the girl, coming home late one evening, met the ghost -of her lover, at a very lonesome part of the road. The form was the -same as when living, but it had no eyes. The girl crossed herself, on -which the ghost disappeared. - -Again she met the same apparition at night, and a third time, when the -ghost stood right before her in the path, so that she could not pass. -Then she spoke, and asked in the name of God and the good angels, why -he appeared to her; and he answered, that he could not rest in his -grave till he had received some command from her, which he was bound to -obey. - -“Then,” she said, “go stand by the gate of heaven till the Judgment -Day, and look in at the blessed dead on their thrones, but you may not -enter. This is my judgment on your soul.” - -On this the ghost sighed deeply and vanished, and was seen no more. -But the girl prayed earnestly that she soon might meet her lover at -the gate of heaven, whither she had sent him, that so both might enter -together into the blessed land. And thus it happened; for by that day -year she was carried to her grave in the churchyard, but her soul went -forth to meet her lover, where he waited for her by the gate of heaven; -and through her love he was absolved, and permitted to enter within the -gate before the Judgment Day. - - * * * * * - -It was considered disrespectful to the dead to take a short cut when -carrying the coffin to the grave. - - * * * * * - -In the Islands, when a person is dying, they place twelve lighted -rushes round the bed. This, they say, is to prevent the devil coming -for the soul; for nothing evil can pass a circle of fire. They also -forbid crying for the dead until three hours have passed by, lest the -wail of the mourners should waken the dogs who are waiting to devour -the souls of men before they can reach the throne of God. - - * * * * * - -It is a very general custom during some nights after a death to leave -food outside the house—a griddle cake, or a dish of potatoes. If it is -gone in the morning, the spirits must have taken it; for no human being -would touch the food left for the dead. - - * * * * * - -The great and old families of Ireland consider it right to be buried -with their kindred, and are brought from any distance, however remote, -to be laid in the ancient graveyard of the race. - -A young man of family having died far away, from fever, it was thought -advisable not to bring him home, but to bury him where he died. -However, on the night of the funeral a phantom hearse with four black -horses stopped at the churchyard. Some men then entered with spades and -shovels and dug a grave, after which the hearse drove away. But next -morning no sign of the grave was to be found, except a long line marked -out, the length of a man’s coffin. - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky and a bad omen to carry fire out of a house where any -one is ill. A gentleman one day stopped at a cabin to get a light -for his cigar, and having wished good morning in the usual friendly -fashion, he took a stick from the fire, blew it into a blaze, and was -walking away, when the woman of the house rose up fiercely and told him -it was an evil thing to take fire away when her husband was dying. On -looking round he saw a wretched skeleton lying on a bed of straw; so -he flung back the stick at once, and fled from the place, leaving his -blessing in the form of a silver offering, to neutralize the evil of -the abducted fire. - - * * * * * - -After the priest has left a dying person, and confession has been made, -all the family kneel round the bed reciting the Litany for the Dying, -and holy water is sprinkled over the room until the soul departs. - -Then they all rise and begin the mournful death-wail in a loud voice; -and by this cry all the people in the village know the exact moment of -the death, and each one that hears it utters a prayer for the departing -soul. - -At the wake the corpse is often dressed in the habit of a religious -order. A cross is placed in the hands and the scapular on the breast. -Candles are lighted all round in a circle, and the friends and -relatives arrange themselves in due order, the nearest of kin being at -the head. At intervals they all stand up and intone the death-wail, -rocking back and forward over the dead, and reciting his virtues; while -the widow and orphans frequently salute the corpse with endearing -epithets, and recall the happy days they spent together. - -When the coffin is borne to the grave each person present helps to -carry it a little way; for this is considered a mode of showing honour -to the dead. The nearest relatives take the front handles first; then -after a little while they move to the back and others take their place, -until every person in turn has borne the head of the coffin to the -grave—for it would be dishonourable to the dead to omit this mark of -respect. - -As the coffin is lowered into the grave the death-cry rises up with a -loud and bitter wail, and the excitement often becomes so great that -women have fallen into hysterics; and at one funeral a young girl in -her agony of grief jumped into her father’s grave and was taken up -insensible. - - -THE WAKE ORGIES. - - -From ancient times the wakes, or funeral games, in Ireland were held -with many strange observances carried down by tradition from the -pagan era. Some of the rites, however, were so revolting and monstrous -that the priesthood used all their influence to put them down. The old -funeral customs, in consequence, have now been discontinued almost -entirely amongst the people, and the ancient traditional usages are -unknown to the new generation, though the elders of the village can yet -remember them. An old man still living thus described to an inquiring -antiquary and lover of folk-lore, his experience of the ceremonial of a -wake at which he had been present in the South of Ireland, when he was -quite a youth, some fifty years before. - -“One dark winter’s night, about seven o’clock, a large party of us,” he -said, “young men and women, perhaps thirty or more, set out across the -mountain to attend a wake at the house of a rich farmer, about three -miles off. All the young men carried lighted torches, for the way was -rugged and dangerous; and by their light we guided the women as best we -could over the deep clefts and across the rapid streams, swollen by the -winter’s rain. The girls took off their shoes and stockings and walked -barefoot, but where the water was heavy and deep the men carried them -across in their arms or on their backs. In this way we all arrived at -last at the farmhouse, and found a great assemblage in the large barn, -which was hung throughout with branches of evergreen and festoons of -laurel and holly. - -“At one end of the barn, on a bed decorated with branches of green -leaves, lay the corpse, an old woman of eighty, the mother of the man -of the house. He stood by the head of the dead woman, while all the -near relatives had seats round. Then the mourning women entered and sat -down on the ground in a circle, one in the centre cloaked and hooded, -who began the chant or funeral wail, all the rest joining in chorus. -After an interval there would come a deep silence; then the chant began -again, and when it was over the women rose up and went out, leaving -the place free for the next comers, who acted a play full of ancient -symbolic meaning. But, first, whisky was served round, and the pipers -played; for every village had sent their best player and singer to -honour the wake. - -“When a great space was cleared in the centre of the barn, the first -set of players entered. They wore masks and fantastic garments, and -each carried a long spear and a bit of plaited straw on the arm for a -shield. At once they began to build a fort, as it were, marking out the -size with their spears, and using some rough play with the spectators. -While thus engaged a band of enemies appeared, also masked and armed. -And now a great fight began and many prisoners were taken; but to save -slaughter a horn was blown, and a fight demanded between the two best -champions of the hostile forces. Two of the finest young men were then -selected and placed at opposite ends of the barn, when they ran a tilt -against one another with their spears, uttering fierce, loud cries, and -making terrible demonstrations. At length one fell down as if mortally -wounded; then all the hooded women came in again and keened over him, -a male voice at intervals reciting his deeds, while the pipers played -martial tunes. But on its being suggested that perhaps he was not dead -at all, an herb doctor was sent for to look at him; and an aged man -with a flowing white beard was led in, carrying a huge bundle of herbs. -With these he performed sundry strange incantations, until finally the -dead man sat up and was carried off the field by his comrades, with -shouts of triumph. So ended the first play. - -“Then supper was served and more whisky drunk, after which another play -was acted of a different kind. A table was set in the middle of the -barn, and two chairs, while all the people, about a hundred or more, -gathered round in a circle. Then two men, dressed as judges, took their -seats, with guards beside them, and called on another man to come forth -and address the people. On this a young man sprang on the table and -poured forth an oration in Irish, full of the most grotesque fun and -sharp allusions, at which the crowd roared with laughter. Then he gave -out a verse like a psalm, in gibberish Irish, and bade the people say -it after him. It ran like this, being translated— - - “‘Yellow Macauly has come from Spain, - He brought sweet music out of a bag, - Sing _See-saw, Sulla Vick Dhau, - Sulla, Sulla Vick Dhau righ_.’ - - (That is, Solomon, son of David the King.) - -“If any one failed to repeat this verse after him he was ordered to -prison by the judges, and the guards seized him to cut off his head; -or if any one laughed the judge sentenced him, saying in Irish, ‘Seize -that man, he is a pagan: he is mocking the Christian faith. Let him -die!’ - -“After this the professional story-teller was in great force, and -held the listeners enchained by the wonders of his narration and the -passionate force of his declamation. So the strange revelry went on, -and the feasting and the drinking, till sunrise, when many of the -guests returned to their homes, but others stayed with the family till -the coffin was lifted for the grave.” - - * * * * * - -Full details of these strange wake orgies can seldom be obtained, for -the people are afraid of the priesthood, who have vehemently denounced -them. Yet the peasants cling to them with a mysterious reverence, and -do not see the immorality of many of the wake practices. They accept -them as mysteries, ancient usages of their forefathers, to be sacredly -observed, or the vengeance of the dead would fall on them. - -According to all accounts an immense amount of dramatic talent was -displayed by the actors of these fantastic and symbolic plays. An -intelligent peasant, who was brought to see the acting at the Dublin -theatre, declared on his return: “I have now seen the great English -actors, and heard plays in the English tongue, but poor and dull they -seemed to me after the acting of our own people at the wakes and fairs; -for it is a truth, the English cannot make us weep and laugh as I have -seen the crowds with us when the players played and the poets recited -their stories.” - -The Celts certainly have a strong dramatic tendency, and there are many -peasant families in Ireland who have been distinguished for generations -as bards and actors, and have a natural and hereditary gift for music -and song. - -On the subject of wake orgies, a clever writer observes that they are -evidently a remnant of paganism, and formed part of those Druidic rites -meant to propitiate the evil spirits and the demons of darkness and -doom; for the influence of Druidism lasted long after the establishment -of Christianity. The Druid priests took shelter with the people, and -exercised a powerful and mysterious sway over them by their magic -spells. Druid practices were known to exist down to the time of -the Norman invasion in the twelfth century, and even for centuries -after; and to this Druidic influence may be traced the sarcasms on -Christianity which are occasionally introduced into the mystery plays -of the wake ceremonial. As in the one called “Hold the Light,” where -the passion of the Lord Christ is travestied with grotesque imitation. -The same writer describes the play acted at wakes called “The Building -of the Ship,” a symbolic rite still older than Druidism, and probably -a remnant of the primitive Arkite worship. This was followed by a -scene called “Drawing the Ship out of the Mud.” It was against these -two plays that the anathemas of the Church were chiefly directed, in -consequence of their gross immorality, and they have now entirely -ceased to form any portion of the wake ceremonial of Ireland. Hindu -priests would recognize some of the ceremonies as the same which are -still practised in their own temples; and travellers have traced a -similarity also in these ancient usages to the “big canoe games” of the -Mandan Indians. - -In the next play, the Hierophant, or teacher of the games, orders all -the men out of the room; a young girl is then dressed with a hide -thrown over her, and horns on her head, to simulate a cow, while her -maidens form a circle and slowly dance round her to music, on which -a loud knocking is heard at the door. “Who wants to enter?” asks the -Hierophant. He is answered, “The guards demand admittance for the bull -who is without.” Admittance is refused, and the maidens and the cow -affect great alarm. Still the knocking goes on, and finally the door -is burst open and the bull enters. He also is robed with a hide and -wears horns, and is surrounded by a band of young men as his guards. He -endeavours to seize the cow, who is defended by her maidens, forming -the dramatic incidents of the play. A general mock fight now takes -place between the guards and the maidens, and the scene ends with -uproarious hilarity and the capture of the cow. - -There are other practices mentioned by writers on the subject, who -trace in the Irish observances a tradition of the Cabyric rites, and -also a striking similarity to the idolatrous practices of Hindustan as -described in the “Asiatic Researches,” and in Moore’s “Hindu Pantheon.” - -It is remarkable also that in the Polynesian Islands the funeral rites -were accompanied by somewhat similar ceremonies. These the early -missionaries viewed with horror, and finally succeeded in extirpating -them. - -These ancient funeral rites have now disappeared in Ireland; still -the subject remains one of intense interest to the ethnologist and -antiquary, who will find in the details indications of the oldest -idolatries of the world, especially of that primitive religion called -Arkite, as in the dramatic performance called “The Building of the -Ship,” where one man prostrates himself on the ground as the ship, -while two others sit head and foot to represent the prow and stern. -This ship drama is, perhaps, a fragment of the earliest tradition of -humanity represented by a visible symbol to illustrate the legend of -the Deluge. - - -THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. - - -Ireland, from its remote position and immunity from Roman conquest, -remained longer in the possession of the Druidic mysteries than any -other nation of Europe. Besides, the early missionaries adopted no -intolerant measures against the ancient creed; no persecutions are -recorded. The sacred trees were not cut down, nor the sacrificial -stones destroyed; but the holy wells and the antique monuments were -sanctified by association with a saint’s name and history, and from -being objects of pagan idolatry became shrines of prayer and centres of -holy worship, where enlightened men preached the new gospel of light, -purity, and love to an awe-struck, wondering multitude. - -To this tolerant policy, as Mr. Windell, the learned antiquary, -remarks, may be attributed the strong endurance of Druidic -superstitions and usages in Ireland. Much also is due to the peculiar -and truly Oriental tenacity with which the Irish at all times have -clung to the customs and traditions of their forefathers. The belief in -a fairy race ever present amongst them and around them, is one of these -ineffaceable superstitions which the people still hold with a faith as -fervent as those of the first Aryan tribes who wandered westward from -the mystic East, where all creeds, symbols, and myths had their origin. - -Many other broken fragments of the early ritual of the world can also -still be traced in the popular superstitions and usages of the people. -The sun and moon with the mysterious powers of nature were the first -gods of humanity. Astarte, Ashtaroth, and Isis were all the same -moon-goddess under different names, and all were represented by the -symbol of the horned cow. The Egyptians typified the sun and moon, -Osiris and Isis, as the ox and the cow; and these symbols were still -used at the Irish wake ceremonial until very recently: for the Druids -also worshipped the sun and moon and the winds, and venerated trees, -fountains, rivers, and pillar stones, like their Persian ancestry. But -the Irish considered the east wind demoniacal, the Druidic wind of -accursed power. They called it “The Red Wind,” “A wind that blasts the -trees and withers men is that Red Wind,” according to a bard. - -The Hindus had their triad of Brahmȃ, Vishnu, and Siva, representing -the sun at morning, noon, and evening; so the Irish Druids had their -triad of Baal, Budh, and Grian, and they called the May festival _Lá -Budha na Baal tinne_ (the day of Buddha of the Baal fires). Chrishna -was another Hindu name for the sun, and the Irish had Crias, a name for -the sun likewise. - -The Hindus had their cattle, or cow festival in spring, when they -walked round the animals with great ceremony, always going westward, -while they flung garlands on their horns. So in Ireland there was also -a procession, when the cows were decorated with vervain and the rowan, -and were sprinkled with the _Sgaith-an-Tobar_ (the purity of the well), -that is, the first water drawn from a sacred well after midnight on -May Eve. This was considered an effective antidote to witchcraft, and -whoever succeeded in being first at the well, cast into it a tuft of -grass, called _Cuisheag grass_, to show that the _Sgaith-an-Tobar_ had -been abstracted. So also the Hindus esteem the _Cusha grass_ as sacred, -and cast it into their wells for a like purpose. The ceremonial of -wreathing the horns of the cows was in honour of the moon, the wife -of the Sun-god, whose emblem, as we know, all through the East, as in -Ireland, was the horned cow. - -Many and strange, indeed, are the analogies between the practices of -the Egyptians, Hindus, Persians, and the Irish; and the legend may, -after all, have some truth in it which brings the first Colonists of -Ireland from Egypt, and makes the first Queen of Erin a daughter of -Pharaoh. The ancient war-cry of the Irish clans was _Pharrah!_ a word -that has no significance in the Irish language, but which is supposed -by some antiquarians to be the same as _Phi-Ra_, the sun—the regal -title of the Egyptian kings, by which they were invoked by the warriors -as they rushed into battle. - -The ancient funeral ceremonies of Egypt can be still seen and studied -at the wake of an Irish peasant; especially in that singular symbol, -when a man and a woman appeared, one bearing the head of an ox, the -other that of a cow at the funeral games; a custom which has now lost -all its meaning, but which originally, no doubt, represented Isis and -Osiris waiting to receive the soul of the dead. - -The Persians held that fire and water were the most sacred of all -things and so did the Irish; hence their reverence for the waters -of purification at the holy wells. And as the heathen passed their -children and cattle through the fire to Moloch, so the Irish performed -the same rite at the Baal festival, when the young men leaped through -the flames, and the cattle were driven through the hot embers. Fire was -held to be the visible symbol of the invisible God, endowed with mystic -cleansing powers, and the ascending flame was thought to be a divine -spirit dwelling in the substance ignited. For this reason the Irish -made a circle of fire round their children and their cattle to guard -them from evil, holding the belief that no evil spirit could pass this -special emblem of divinity. - -But even in matters less divine there was a similarity between the -Persian and Irish usages. The Persian Magi made a considerable revenue -from the sacred fire; for each devotee paid a silver coin for the ember -carried away from the holy temple, to light the home fire on the day -of the Sun-festival. And fire was also a source of wealth to the Druid -priests; each person being obliged to buy it from them on the great day -of Baal. Therefore it was a sin to give away fire on that day; and the -habit of borrowing it to light the home fire was denounced as fatal and -unlucky. The true reason being that to borrow the sacred element was -to injure the priestly revenue. Yet this ancient ordinance is still -religiously observed in Ireland; and even to this day no peasant would -venture to give away fire or milk on May Day, for fear of the worst -consequences to the giver; while any one who came to borrow a lighted -brand would be looked on as an emissary of Satan. - -The sacred fire of Tara (_Tamhair-na-Righ_, Tara of the Kings) was only -lit every three years, and then with great ceremony. The sun’s rays -were concentrated by means of a brazen lens, on some pieces of dried -wood, and from this alone were all the sacred fires in Ireland kindled -in the holy places. - -At the present time, if a peasant has to light a fire in the house on -May morning, which does not often happen, as the custom is to keep the -fire burning all night, a lighted sod taken from the priest’s house is -esteemed of great virtue and sacredness, just as in old time a lighted -brand from the altar of Baal was used to light the domestic fire. - -The sacred fire was also obtained from the friction of wood, or the -striking of stones; and it was supposed that the spirits of fire dwelt -in these objects, and when the priest invoked them to appear, they -brought good luck to the household for the coming year; but if invoked -by other hands on that special day their influence was malific. - -The migration of races can be clearly traced by their superstitions. -The oldest seem to have come from Persia and Egypt; while mutilated, -though still authentic portions of the old-world ritual can still be -found all along the Mediterranean, marking the westward progress of the -primitive nations, till the last wave found a resting-place on our own -far-distant shores, washed by the waters of the Atlantic. - -Assyria was the teacher of Egypt; Egypt of Greece; and Greece of -Europe; and little seems to have been lost during the progress of sixty -centuries. The old myths still remain at the base of all thought and -all creeds; broken fragments of the primal faith; shadowy traditions of -some great human life that once was real and actual, or of some great -event that changed the destiny of nations, and the echo of which still -vibrates through the legends, the songs, the poetry, and the usages of -every people on the face of the earth. - -Persia, Egypt, India, the Teuton, and the Celt, have all the -same primal ideas in their mythology, and the same instincts of -superstition; and the signs to which past ages have given a mystic -meaning still come to us laden with a fateful significance, even in -this advanced era of culture and the triumph of reason. - -We still cannot help believing that prophecies come in the night, -for the mystical and prophetic nature of dreams is confirmed by the -personal experience of almost every human being; and few are found -brave enough, even amongst the educated classes, lightly to break -through a traditional usage on which all the ages have set the seal of -good or ill luck. - -Superstition, or the belief in unseen, mysterious, spiritual -influences, is an instinct of human nature. A vague, shadowy, formless -belief, certainly, yet ineradicable. We feel that our dual humanity, -the material as well as the psychical, holds some strange and mystic -relation with an unseen spiritual world, though we cannot define the -limits, nor bring it under a law. - -Before the written word existed, the people strove to express their -creed and history in symbols. Divine nations, like the Greeks, made the -symbols beautiful, and these the uncultured tribes may afterwards have -distorted into grotesque and rude imitations; but the same idea can -be traced through all forms by which humanity has tried to represent -history, nature, and God. - -And the old Pagan customs of the early world seem to have an enduring -vitality, and to have become fixed, even in the usages of the -enlightened nineteenth century. The Persian Magi and the Druid priest -exacted a tribute of the firstlings of the flock as a burnt-offering -to the Sun-god on the day of his festival; so in modern times, we -sacrifice a lamb at Easter and an ox at Christmas, retaining the -pagan rite while we honour the Christian legend. The Christmas-tree -is still lighted to guide the Sun-god back to life; and the spotted -cake, anciently made in his honour, of corn and fruit, still finds its -place on our tables, as the plum pudding of civilization, even as its -primitive prototype was laid on the sacred altars of the Persians as an -offering of gratitude to the Lord of Light and Life. - -The widespread range of the same traditional customs and superstitions -amongst all peoples and through every age is a most interesting study, -as showing the primitive unity of the human race and the subsequent -divergence of the nations, even as recorded in the Biblical narrative; -but it would be endless to follow the lines of affinity that run -through all the creeds, legends, usages and superstitions of the world. -Thus the Algonquil Indians, according to Mr. Leland, held the ash-tree -and the elm as sacred and mystical, because these trees were made -human. Of the ash was made man, of the elm, woman. - -So in the Edda, we read of the mighty ash-tree whose summit reaches -to heaven, and whose roots go down to hell. Two fountains sprang from -beneath it—one the knowledge of all that is; the other of all that -shall be. And out of the wood man was created. - -The Irish also hold the ash-tree as all-powerful against witchcraft; -therefore branches of it were wreathed rounds the horns of the cattle, -and round the child’s cradle to keep off evil influence; while in all -their weird tales of the fairy dances with the dead, the mortals drawn -into their company are infallibly safe if they get possession of a -branch of the ash-tree, and hold it safely till out of reach of the -evil spell. - -The alder is another of the mystical trees of Ireland, held sacred, as -in Persia, on account of its possessing strange mysterious properties -and powers to avert evil; and the hawthorn likewise was sacred to the -Irish fairies, therefore a libation of milk was poured over the roots -on May Day, as the Hindus poured milk on the earth round the sacred -tree as an offering to the manes of the dead. - -In the Transylvanian legends and superstitions, of which Madame Gerard -has recently given an interesting record, many will be found identical -with the Irish; such as these—Friday is the most unlucky day of all -the week; evil spirits are strongest between sunset and midnight; it -is ill-luck to have your path crossed by a hare; on entering a strange -house sit down a moment, or a death will happen; spitting is at all -times most efficacious against the influence of the devil; an infant’s -nails should be bitten, not cut; never rock an empty cradle; the robin -and the swallow bring luck; never kill a spider; the crow and a black -hen are ominous of evil. The dead are only in a trance; they hear -everything but can make no sign. The Irish also believe that the dead -are allowed at certain times to visit their living kindred. A whirlwind -denotes that a devil is dancing with a witch; so the Irish believe that -the fairies are rushing by in the whirlwind intent on carrying off some -mortal victim to the fairy mansions; and the only help is to fling -clay at the passing wind, when the fairies will be obliged to drop the -mortal child, or the beautiful young girl they have abducted. - -But the Roumanians are a mixed race—Greek, Slav, Teuton, Gypsey—and -many of their superstitions are dark and gloomy, especially those -relating to vampires, wolves, and terrible demons, evil spirits, and -fearful witches. The Irish legends rarely deal with anything terrible -or revolting. They circle, in general, round the mythus of the fairy, a -bright and beautiful creation, only living for pleasure, music, and the -dance, and rarely malignant or ill-natured, except when their dancing -grounds are interfered with, or when they are not treated with proper -generous consideration in the matter of wine. - -The strange dance practised at Midsummer in Ireland round the Baal -fires can clearly be traced from the East to Erin; and in its origin -was evidently a religious symbol and rite. The Greeks practised it from -the most ancient times. It was called the Pyrrhic dance—from _pur_ -fire—and simulated the windings of a serpent. - -The _Syrtos_, the great national dance of the Ægean Islands, so well -described by Mr. Bent in his interesting book on the Cyclades, also -resembles the winding of a serpent. The dancers hold hands and circle -round in tortuous curves precisely as in Ireland, where the line of -dancers with joined hands, always moving from east to west, extends -sometimes for a mile in length. It was probably a mystic dance symbolic -of the path of the sun, though the esoteric meaning has now been -entirely lost; part of the primal range of ideas out of which man first -formed a religion and ritual of worship. - -Many other practices and superstitions of the Greek islanders strongly -resemble the Irish. The Nereids of the Ægean play the part of the Irish -fairies, and are as capricious though often more malignant. If a child -grows wan and weak the Nereids have struck it; and it is laid naked for -a night on the altar steps to test the truth of the suspicion. If the -poor child dies under the trial, then it certainly was bewitched by the -evil spirits, and the parents are well content to be rid of the unholy -thing. - -The funeral wail over the dead also closely resembles the Irish, when -the hired mourning women sit round the corpse, tear their hair, beat -their breast and rock to and fro, intoning in a monotone chant the -praises of the deceased, the cries at times rising to a scream, in a -frenzy of grief and despair. - -The islanders likewise use many charms and incantations like the Irish, -while the old women amongst them display wonderful knowledge of the -mystic nature and power of herbs, and are most expert in the cure of -disease. It is indeed remarkable that, amongst all primitive tribes and -nations, women have always shown the highest skill in the treatment of -disease, and have been rightly accounted the best doctors, and the most -learned in mystic medicinal lore. - -The Marquis of Lorne, in his graphic and instructive “Canadian -Pictures,” speaks of the wonderful skill of the Indian women, and the -remarkable cures effected by the squaws through their knowledge of -the varied properties of herbs. The Indians also have a sweating bath -for the sick, such as was used by the ancient Irish. A bath is made -by stones covered over with branches; hot water is then poured on the -stones, and the patient crouches over the heated vapour evolved until -a violent perspiration is produced, which carries off the disease, -or the pains in the members, without fail. The sweating bath of the -Irish was made quite on the same principles, and is the most effective -cure known for pains in the bones and feverish disorders. It is still -used in the Western Islands. “The Sweating House,” as it is called, is -made of rough stones with a narrow entrance, through which the patient -creeps on all-fours; when inside, however, he can stand up. A peat fire -is kindled, and divesting himself of all clothing, he undergoes the -process of sweating in a profuse perspiration as he lies on the stone -floor. The place is heated like a baker’s oven, but there is sufficient -ventilation kept up by means of chinks and apertures through the stone -work of the walls. - -The cures effected by this process are marvellous. As the people say of -it themselves, “Any disease that has a hold on the bones can’t stand -before it no time at all, at all.” - - -THE POWER OF THE WORD. - - -The belief in the malific influence of the Evil Eye pervades all -the Greek islands, and the same preventive measures are used as in -Ireland. An old woman is employed to spit three times at the person -affected, if she is a person learned in the mysteries and accounted -wise. Salt and fire are also used as safeguards, precisely as the -Irish peasant employs them to guard his cattle and children from the -evil influence. But no superstition is more widely spread; it seems -to pervade all the world, and to be instinctive to humanity. The -educated are as susceptible to it as the illiterate, and no nerves -are strong enough, apparently, to resist the impression made by an -envious, malicious glance, for a poison that blights and withers seems -to emanate from it. Reason appeals in vain; the feelings cannot be -overcome that the presence and glance of some one person in a room can -chill all the natural flow of spirits, while the presence of another -seems to intensify all our mental powers, and transform us for the -moment into a higher being. - -But a malific power, stronger even than the glance of the Evil Eye, was -exercised by the Bards of Erin: whom they would they blessed, but whom -they would they also banned; and the poet’s malison was more dreaded -and was more fatal than any other form of imprecation—for the bard had -the mystic prophet power: he could foresee, and he could denounce. And -no man could escape from the judgment pronounced by a poet over one he -desired to injure; for the poet had the knowledge of all mysteries and -was Lord over the secrets of life by the power of The Word. Therefore -poets were emphatically called the tribe of _Duars_, that is, THE MEN -OF THE WORD; for by a word the poets could produce deformities in those -they disliked, and make them objects of scorn and hateful in the sight -of other men. - - -THE POET AND THE KING. - - -Nuadhé, the celebrated poet, is remembered in history by a memorable -exercise of his malific power, and the punishment that fell on him in -consequence; for Heaven is just, and even a bard cannot escape the -penalty due for sin. - -He was nephew to Caer, the king of Connaught, who reared him with all -kindness and gentleness as his own son. But by an evil fate the wife -of Caer the king loved the young man; and she gave him a silver apple -in proof of her love, and further promised him the kingdom and herself -if he could overthrow Caer and make the people depose him from the -sovranty. - -“How can I do this?” answered Nuadhé, “for the king has ever been kind -to me.” - -“Ask him for some gift,” said the queen, “that he will refuse, and -then put a blemish on him for punishment, that so he can be no longer -king;” for no one with a blemish was ever suffered to reign in Erin. - -“But he refuses me nothing,” answered Nuadhé. - -“Try him,” said the queen. “Ask of him the dagger he brought from Alba, -for he is under a vow never to part with it.” - -So Nuadhé went to him, and asked for the dagger that came out of Alba -as a gift. - -“Woe is me!” said the king. “This I cannot grant; for I am under a -solemn vow never to part with it, or give it to another.” - -Then the poet by his power made a satire on him, and this was the form -of the imprecation— - - “Evil death, and a short life - Be on Caer the king! - Let the spears of battle wound him, - Under earth, under ramparts, under stones, - Let the malediction be on him!” - -And when Caer rose up in the morning he put his hand to his face and -found it was disfigured with three blisters, a white, a red, and a -green. And when he saw the blemish he fled away filled with fear that -any man should see him, and took refuge in a fort with one of his -faithful servants, and no one knew where he lay hid. - -So Nuadhé took the kingdom and held it for a year, and had the queen to -wife. But then grievous to him was the fate of Caer, and he set forth -to search for him. - -And he was seated in the king’s own royal chariot, with the king’s wife -beside him, and the king’s greyhound at his feet, and all the people -wondered at the beauty of the charioteer. - -Now Caer was in the fort where he had found shelter, and when he saw -them coming he said— - -“Who is this that is seated in my chariot in the place of the champion, -and driving my steeds?” - -But when he saw that it was Nuadhé he fled away and hid himself for -shame. - -Then Nuadhé drove into the fort in the king’s chariot, and loosed the -dogs to pursue Caer. And they found him hid under the flagstone behind -the rock even where the dogs tracked him. And Caer fell down dead -from shame on beholding Nuadhé, and the rock where he fell flamed up -and shivered into fragments, and a splinter leaped up high as a man, -and struck Nuadhé on the eyes, and blinded him for life. Such was the -punishment decreed, and just and right was the vengeance of God upon -the sin of the poet. - - -THE SIDHE RACE. - - -The Sidhe dwell in the Sifra, or fairy palace of gold and crystal, in -the heart of the hill, and they have been given youth, beauty, joy, -and the power over music, yet they are often sad; for they remember -that they were once angels in heaven though now cast down to earth, -and though they have power over all the mysteries of Nature, yet they -must die without hope of regaining heaven, while mortals are certain of -immortality. Therefore this one sorrow darkens their life, a mournful -envy of humanity; because, while man is created immortal, the beautiful -fairy race is doomed to annihilation. - -One day a great fairy chief asked Columb-Kille if there were any hope -left to the Sidhe that one day they would regain heaven and be restored -to their ancient place amongst the angels. But the saint answered that -hope there was none; their doom was fixed, and at the judgment-day they -would pass through death into annihilation; for so had it been decreed -by the justice of God. - -On hearing this the fairy chief fell into a profound melancholy, and -he and all his court sailed away from Ireland, and went back to their -native country of Armenia, there to await the coming of the terrible -judgment-day, which is fated to bring the fairy race certain death on -earth, without any hope of regaining heaven. - -The West of Ireland is peculiarly sacred to ancient superstitions of -the Sidhe race. There is a poetry in the scenery that touches the heart -of the people; they love the beautiful glens, the mountains rising -like towers from the sea, the islands sanctified by the memory of a -saint, and the green hills where Finvarra holds his court. Every lake -and mountain has its legend of the spirit-land, some holy traditions -of a saint, or some historic memory of a national hero who flourished -in the old great days when Ireland had native chiefs and native swords -to guard her; and amongst the Western Irish, especially, the old -superstitions of their forefathers are reverenced with a solemn faith -and fervour that is almost a religion. Finvarra the king is still -believed to rule over all the fairies of the west, and _Onagh_ is -the fairy queen. Her golden hair sweeps the ground, and she is robed -in silver gossamer all glittering as if with diamonds, but they are -dew-drops that sparkle over it. - -The queen is more beautiful than any woman of earth, yet Finvarra loves -the mortal women best, and wiles them down to his fairy palace by the -subtle charm of the fairy music, for no one who has heard it can resist -its power, and they are fated to belong to the fairies ever after. -Their friends mourn for them as dead with much lamentation, but in -reality they are leading a joyous life down in the heart of the hill, -in the fairy palace with the silver columns and the crystal walls. - -Yet sometimes they are not drawn down beneath the earth, but remain as -usual in the daily life, though the fairy spell is still on them; and -the young men who have once heard the fairy harp become possessed by -the spirit of music which haunts them to their death, and gives them -strange power over the souls of men. This was the case with Carolan, -the celebrated bard. He acquired all the magic melody of his notes by -sleeping out on a fairy rath at night, when the fairy music came to him -in his dreams; and on awaking he played the airs from memory. Thus it -was that he had power to madden men to mirth, or to set them weeping as -if for the dead, and no one ever before or since played the enchanting -fairy music like Carolan, the sweet musician of Ireland. - -There was another man also who heard the fairy music when sleeping on -a rath, and ever after he was haunted by the melody day and night, -till he grew mad and had no pleasure in life, for he longed to be with -the fairies again that he might hear them sing. So one day, driven to -despair by the madness of longing, he threw himself from the cliff into -the mountain lake near the fairy rath, and so died and was seen no more. - -In the Western Islands they believe that the magic of fairy music is -so strong that whoever hears it cannot choose but follow the sound, -and the young girls are drawn away by the enchantment, and dance all -night with Finvarra the king, though in the morning they are found fast -asleep in bed, yet with a memory of all they had heard and seen; and -some say that, while with the fairies, the young women learn strange -secrets of love potions, by which they can work spells and dangerous -charms over those whose love they desire, or upon any one who has -offended and spoken ill of them. - -It is a beautiful idea that the Irish airs, so plaintive, mournful, and -tear-compelling, are but the remembered echoes of that spirit music -which had power to draw souls away to the fairy mansions, and hold them -captive by the sweet magic of the melody. - - -MUSIC. - - -Music formed the chief part of education in ancient Ireland as in -Greece, where the same word signified a song and a law. Laws, religion, -sciences, and history were all taught in music to the Irish people -by the _Ollamhs_, or learned men. The Poets chanted the _Ros-Catha_, -or song of battle, to incite the warriors to deeds of bravery. The -Bards recited the deeds of the chiefs, or pleasant tales of love, at -the festivals, and struck the harp to sustain the voice. The Brehons -intoned the law in a recitative or monotone chant, seated on an -eminence in the open air, while all the people were gathered round to -listen. The Senachie chanted the history, genealogies, and traditions -of the tribe, and the female mourners were instructed by the poets in -the elegiac measure, or funeral wail over the dead. - -The poet-power was also believed to confer the gift of prophecy; and -no great expedition was undertaken by the tribe without the advice -and sanction of the bard, and especially of the poet-priestess of the -tribe. Thus Ethna the poetess stood on a high stone at the battle of -Moytura, and gave inspiration by her chants to the warriors of the -Tuatha-de-Dananns, and stimulated their courage by her prophecies of -victory; and the stone she stood on is in existence to this day on the -plain of the battle, and is still called by the people “the Stone of -the Prophetess.” - - -POET INSPIRATION. -EODAIN THE POETESS. - - -The _Leanan-Sidhe_, or the spirit of life, was supposed to be the -inspirer of the poet and singer, as the _Ban-Sidhe_ was the spirit of -death, the foreteller of doom. - -The Leanan-Sidhe sometimes took the form of a woman, who gave men -valour and strength in the battle by her songs. Such was Eodain the -poetess, by whom Eugene, king of Munster, gained complete victory over -his foes. But afterwards he gave himself up to luxury and pleasure, -and went away to Spain, where he remained nine years, and took to wife -the daughter of the king of Spain. At the end of that time he returned -to Ireland with a band of Spanish followers. But he found his kingdom -plundered and ruined, and the revellers and drunkards were feasting in -his banquet hall, and wasting his revenues for their pleasures while -the people starved. And the whole nation despised the king, and would -not hear his words when he sat down in his golden chair to give just -judgment for iniquity. Then Eugene the king, in his deep sorrow and -humiliation, sent for Eodain the poetess to come and give him counsel. -So Eodain came to him, and upheld him with her strong spirit, for she -had the power within her of the poet and the prophet, and she said— - -“Arise now, O king, and govern like a true hero, and bring confusion on -the evil workers. Be strong and fear not, for by strength and justice -kings should rule.” - -And Eugene the king was guided by her counsel and was successful. And -he overthrew his enemies and brought back peace and order to the land. -For the strength of the Leanan-Sidhe was in the words of Eodain, the -power of the spirit of life which is given to the poet and the prophet, -by which they inspire and guide the hearts of men. - - -THE BANSHEE. - - -The Banshee means, especially, the woman of the fairy race, from _van_, -“the Woman—the Beautiful;” the same word from which comes _Venus_. -Shiloh-Van was one of the names of Buddha—“the son of the woman;” and -some writers aver that in the Irish—_Sullivan_ (Sulli-van), may be -found this ancient name of Buddha. - -As the Leanan-Sidhe was the acknowledged _spirit of life_, giving -inspiration to the poet and the musician, so the Ban-Sidhe was the -_spirit of death_, the most weird and awful of all the fairy powers. - -But only certain families of historic lineage, or persons gifted with -music and song, are attended by this spirit; for music and poetry are -fairy gifts, and the possessors of them show kinship to the spirit -race—therefore they are watched over by the spirit of life, which is -prophecy and inspiration; and by the spirit of doom, which is the -revealer of the secrets of death. - -Sometimes the Banshee assumes the form of some sweet singing virgin -of the family who died young, and has been given the mission by the -invisible powers to become the harbinger of coming doom to her mortal -kindred. Or she may be seen at night as a shrouded woman, crouched -beneath the trees, lamenting with veiled face; or flying past in the -moonlight, crying bitterly: and the cry of this spirit is mournful -beyond all other sounds on earth, and betokens certain death to some -member of the family whenever it is heard in the silence of the night. - - * * * * * - -The Banshee even follows the old race across the ocean and to distant -lands; for space and time offer no hindrance to the mystic power which -is selected and appointed to bear the prophecy of death to a family. Of -this a well-authenticated instance happened a few years ago, and many -now living can attest the truth of the narrative. - -A branch of the ancient race of the O’Gradys had settled in Canada, -far removed, apparently, from all the associations, traditions, and -mysterious influences of the old land of their forefathers. - -But one night a strange and mournful lamentation was heard outside the -house. No word was uttered, only a bitter cry, as of one in deepest -agony and sorrow, floated through the air. - -Inquiry was made, but no one had been seen near the house at the time, -though several persons distinctly heard the weird, unearthly cry, and a -terror fell upon the household, as if some supernatural influence had -overshadowed them. - -Next day it so happened that the gentleman and his eldest son went out -boating. As they did not return, however, at the usual time for dinner, -some alarm was excited, and messengers were sent down to the shore to -look for them. But no tidings came until, precisely at the exact hour -of the night when the spirit-cry had been heard the previous evening, -a crowd of men were seen approaching the house, bearing with them the -dead bodies of the father and the son, who had both been drowned by the -accidental upsetting of the boat, within sight of land, but not near -enough for any help to reach them in time. - -Thus the Ban-Sidhe had fulfilled her mission of doom, after which she -disappeared, and the cry of the spirit of death was heard no more. - - * * * * * - -At times the spirit-voice is heard in low and soft lamenting, as if -close to the window. - -Not long ago an ancient lady of noble lineage was lying near the -death-hour in her stately castle. One evening, after twilight, she -suddenly unclosed her eyes and pointed to the window, with a happy -smile on her face. All present looked in the direction, but nothing -was visible. They heard, however, the sweetest music, low, soft, and -spiritual, floating round the house, and at times apparently close to -the window of the sick room. - -Many of the attendants thought it was a trick, and went out to search -the grounds; but nothing human was seen. Still the wild plaintive -singing went on, wandering through the trees like the night wind—a low, -beautiful music that never ceased all through the night. - -Next morning the noble lady lay dead; then the music ceased, and the -lamentation from that hour was heard no more. - - * * * * * - -There was a gentleman also in the same country who had a beautiful -daughter, strong and healthy, and a splendid horsewoman. She always -followed the hounds, and her appearance at the hunt attracted -unbounded admiration, as no one rode so well or looked so beautiful. - -One evening there was a ball after the hunt, and the young girl moved -through the dance with the grace of a fairy queen. - -But that same night a voice came close to the father’s window, as -if the face were laid close to the glass, and he heard a mournful -lamentation and a cry; and the words rang out on the air— - -“In three weeks death; in three weeks the grave—dead—dead—dead!” - -Three times the voice came, and three times he heard the words; but -though it was bright moonlight, and he looked from the window over all -the park, no form was to be seen. - -Next day, his daughter showed symptoms of fever, and exactly in three -weeks, as the Ban-Sidhe had prophesied, the beautiful girl lay dead. - -The night before her death soft music was heard outside the house, -though no word was spoken by the spirit-voice, and the family said -the form of a woman crouched beneath a tree, with a mantle covering -her head, was distinctly visible. But on approaching, the phantom -disappeared, though the soft, low music of the lamentation continued -till dawn. - -Then the angel of death entered the house with soundless feet, and he -breathed upon the beautiful face of the young girl, and she rested in -the sleep of the dead, beneath the dark shadows of his wings. - -Thus the prophecy of the Banshee came true, according to the time -foretold by the spirit-voice. - - -QUEEN MAEVE. - - -A remarkable account is given in the Bardic Legends of a form that -appeared to Maeve, queen of Connaught, on the eve of battle. - -Suddenly there stood before the queen’s chariot, a tall and beautiful -woman. She wore a green robe clasped with a golden bodkin, a golden -fillet on her head, and seven braids for the Dead of bright gold were -in her hand. Her skin was white as snow that falls in the night; her -teeth were as pearls; her lips red as the berries of the mountain ash; -her golden hair fell to the ground; and her voice was sweet as the -golden harp-string when touched by a skilful hand. - -“Who art thou, O woman?” asked the queen, in astonishment. - -“I am Feithlinn, the fairy prophetess of the Rath of Cruachan,” she -answered. - -“’Tis well, O Feithlinn the prophetess,” said Maeve; “but what dost -thou foresee concerning our hosts?” - -“I foresee bloodshed; I foresee power; I foresee defeat!” answered the -prophetess. - -“My couriers have brought me good tidings!” said the queen; “my army -is strong, my warriors are well prepared. But speak the truth, O -prophetess; for my soul knows no fear.” - -“I foresee bloodshed; I foresee victory!” answered the prophetess the -second time. - -“But I have nothing to fear from the Ultonians,” said the queen, “for -my couriers have arrived, and my enemies are under dread. Yet, speak -the truth, O prophetess, that our hosts may know it.” - -“I foresee bloodshed; I foresee conquest; I foresee _death_!” answered -the prophetess, for the third time. - -“To me then it belongs not, thy prophecy of evil,” replied the queen, -in anger. - -“Be it thine, and on thy own head.” - -And even as she spoke the prophet maiden disappeared, and the queen saw -her no more. - -But it so happened that, some time afterwards, Queen Maeve was cruelly -slain by her own kinsman, at Lough Rea by the Shannon, to avenge the -assistance she had given in war to the king of Ulster; there is an -island in the lake where is shown the spot where the great queen was -slain, and which is still known to the people as—_the stone of the dead -queen_. - -Maeve, the great queen of Connaught, holds a distinguished place in -Bardic Legends. When she went to battle, it is said, she rode in an -open car, accompanied by four chariots—one before, another behind, and -one on each side—so that the golden _assion_ on her head and her royal -robes should not be defiled by the dust of the horses’ feet, or the -foam of the fiery steeds; for all the sovereigns of Ireland sat crowned -with a diadem in battle, as they drove in their war-chariots, as well -as in the festal and the public assemblies. - - -DEATH SIGNS. - - -In one Irish family a cuckoo always appears before a death. A lady who -arrived on a visit at a house observed one morning a cuckoo perched on -the window-sill, but she felt no alarm, for there was no sickness in -the family. Next day, however, one of the sons was carried home dead. -He had been thrown from his horse when hunting, and killed on the spot. - -In another family a mysterious sound is heard like the crashing of -boards, and a rush of wind seems to pass through the house, yet nothing -is broken or disturbed. The death of an officer in the Crimea was in -this way announced to his family, for the news came immediately after -the warning sound, and then they knew that the rush of the wind was the -spirit of the dead which had passed by them, but without taking any -visible form. - - -THE HARTPOLE DOOM. - - -There is a tradition concerning the Hartpole family of Shrule Castle in -the Queen’s County (called the castle on the bloody stream, from the -sanguinary deeds of the owner) that every male member of the family is -doomed and fated to utter three screeches terrible to hear when dying. -As to the origin of this doom the story goes that Sir Richard Hartpole -about 300 years ago, in the time of the Elizabethan wars, committed -many savage acts against the Irish, he being an upholder of the English -faction. - -One day a priest named O’More, having come to the castle on some -friendly mission, the savage Hartpole ordered his retainers to seize -him and hang him up in the courtyard. - -“Good God!” exclaimed the priest. “Give me at least a moment to pray!” - -“Go then,” said Hartpole, “you may pray.” - -The priest kneeled down apart from the crowd. But Hartpole grew -impatient, and ordered him to rise. - -“You have prayed long enough,” he said, “prepare for death.” - -And when the priest heard the order for his death, and saw the man -approach to seize him, he swayed from right to left and gave three -fearful screams. - -“Why do you screech?” asked the tyrant. - -“So shall you scream, and all your descendants in your last agony,” -exclaimed O’More, “as a sign of the doom upon your race. You have -murdered my people, you are now going to take my life; but I lay the -curse of God on you and yours—your property shall pass away; your race -shall perish off the earth; and by the three death screeches all men -shall know that you and your posterity are accursed.” - -The words of O’More only made the tyrant more furious, and the priest -was hung at once in the courtyard before the eyes of Hartpole. But the -prophecy of doom was fulfilled—the property perished, the castle became -a ruin. The last Hartpole died miserably of want and hunger, and the -whole race finally has become extinct. - - -SUPERSTITIONS. - - -The two great festivals of the ancient Irish were _Lá Baal Tinné_, or -May Day (sacred to the Sun), and _Lá Samnah_, or November Eve (sacred -to the Moon). - - * * * * * - -Food should be left out on November Eve for the dead, who are then -wandering about. If the food disappears, it is a sign that the spirits -have taken it, for no mortal would dare to touch or eat of the food so -left. - - * * * * * - -Never turn your head to look if you fancy you hear footsteps behind you -on that night; for the dead are walking then, and their glance would -kill. - - * * * * * - -In November a distaff is placed under the head of a young man at night -to make him dream of the girl he is destined to marry. - - * * * * * - -If a ball of worsted is thrown into a lime-kiln and wound up till the -end is caught by invisible hands, the person who winds it calls out, -“Who holds the ball?” and the answer will be the name of the future -husband or wife. But the experiment must be made only at midnight, and -in silence and alone. - - * * * * * - -Whitsuntide is a most unlucky time; horses foaled then will grow up -dangerous and kill some one. - - * * * * * - -A child born at Whitsuntide will have an evil temper, and may commit a -murder. - - * * * * * - -Beware also of water at Whitsuntide, for an evil power is on the waves -and the lakes and the rivers, and a boat may be swamped and men drowned -unless a bride steers; then the danger ceases. - - * * * * * - -To turn away ill-luck from a child born at that time, a grave must be -dug and the infant laid in it for a few minutes. After this process the -evil spell is broken, and the child is safe. - - * * * * * - -If any one takes ill at Whitsuntide there is great danger of death, for -the evil spirits are on the watch to carry off victims, and no sick -person should be left alone at this time, nor in the dark. Light is a -great safeguard, as well as fire, against malific influences. - - * * * * * - -In old times at Whitsuntide blood was poured out as a libation to the -evil spirits; and the children and cattle were passed through two lines -of fire. - - * * * * * - -On May morning the Skellig rocks go out full sail to meet the opposite -rocks, which advance half way to meet them, and then slowly retire like -retreating ships. - - * * * * * - -At Midsummer the fairies try to pass round the Baal fires in a -whirlwind in order to extinguish them, but the spirits may be kept off -by throwing fire at them. Then the young men are free to leap over the -burning embers and to drive the cattle through the flames, while coals -of fire must also be passed three times over and three times under the -body of each animal. - - * * * * * - -Foot-worship was a homage to Buddha, and it was also a Christian -ceremony to wash the feet of the saints. The Irish had many -superstitions about foot-water, and no woman was allowed to wash her -feet in the sacred wells though the lavation was permitted to men. - - * * * * * - -If a child is fairy-struck, give it a cup of cold water in the name of -Christ and make the sign of the cross over it. - - * * * * * - -On St. Martin’s Day when blood is spilt, whoever is signed with the -blood is safe, for that year at least, from disease. - - * * * * * - -For the Evil Eye, a piece cut from the garment of the evil-eyed, burned -to tinder and ground to powder, must be given to the person under the -baneful spell, while his forehead is anointed with spittle thrice. So -the Greeks spat three times in the face of the evil-eyed to break the -spell. - - * * * * * - -Pass a red-hot turf three times over and under the body of an animal -supposed to be fairy-struck, singeing the hair along the back. This -drives off the fairies. - - * * * * * - -The Irish always went westward round a holy well, following the course -of the sun, and creeping on their hands and knees. So did the ancient -Persians when offering homage at the sacred fountains. - - * * * * * - -Red-haired people were held to be evil and malicious and unlucky, -probably because Typhon, the evil principle, was red; and therefore a -red heifer was sacrificed to him by the Egyptians. - - * * * * * - -In the mystic, or snake dance, performed at the Baal festival, the -gyrations of the dancers were always westward, in the track of the -sun, for the dance was part of the ancient ritual of sun worship. - - -THE FAIRY RATH. - - -The ancient rath, or fort, or liss, generally enclosed about half an -acre, and had two or more ramparts, formed by the heads of the tribe -for defence. But when the race of the chieftains died out, then the -Sidhe crowded into the forts, and there held their councils and revels -and dances; and if a man put his ear close to the ground at night he -could hear the sweet fairy music rising up from under the earth. - -The rath ever after is sacred to the fairies, and no mortal is allowed -to cut down a tree that grows on it, or to carry away a stone. But -dangerous above all would it be to build on a fairy rath. If a man -attempted such a rash act, the fairies would put a blast on his eyes, -or give him a crooked mouth; for no human hand should dare to touch -their ancient dancing grounds. - -It is not right, the people say, to sing or whistle at night that old -air, “The pretty girl milking her cow;” for it is a fairy tune, and -the fairies will not suffer a mortal to sing their music while they -are dancing on the grass. But if a person sleeps on the rath the music -will enter into his soul, and when he awakes he may sing the air he has -heard in his dreams. - -In this way the bards learned their songs, and they were skilled -musicians, and touched the harp with a master hand, so that the fairies -often gathered round to listen, though invisible to mortal eyes. - - -FAIRY NATURE. - - -The _Siodh-Dune_, or the Mount of Peace, is also a favourite resort -of the fairies. It is an ancient, sacred place, where the Druids in -old time used to retire to pray, when they desired solitude; and the -fairies meet there every seven years to perform the act of lamentation -and mourning for having been cast out of heaven. - -Earth, lake, and hill are peopled by these fantastic, beautiful gods -of earth; the wilful, capricious child-spirits of the world. The Irish -seem to have created this strange fairy race after their own image, for -in all things they strangely resemble the Irish character. - -The Sidhe passionately love beauty and luxury, and hold in contempt all -the mean virtues of thrift and economy. Above all things they hate -the close, niggard hand that gathers the last grain, and drains the -last drop in the milk-pail, and plucks the trees bare of fruit, leaving -nothing for the spirits who wander by in the moonlight. They like food -and wine to be left for them at night, yet they are very temperate; no -one ever saw an intoxicated fairy. - -But people should not sit up too late; for the fairies like to gather -round the smouldering embers after the family are in bed, and drain -the wine-cup, and drink the milk which a good housewife always leaves -for them, in case the fairies should come in and want their supper. A -vessel of pure water should also be left for them to bathe in, if they -like. And in all things the fairies are fond of being made much of, -and flattered and attended to; and the fairy blessing will come back -in return to the giver for whatever act of kindness he has done to -the spirits of the hill and the cave. Some unexpected good fortune or -stroke of luck will come upon his house or his children; for the fairy -race is not ungrateful, and is powerful over man both for good and evil. - -Therefore be kind to the wayfarer, for he may be a fairy prince in -disguise, who has come to test the depth of your charity, and of the -generous nature that can give liberally out of pure love and kindliness -to those who are in need, and not in hope of a reward. - -If treated well, the fairies will discover the hidden pot of gold, and -reveal the mysteries of herbs, and give knowledge to the fairy women of -the mystic spells that can cure disease, and save life, and make the -lover loved. - -All they ask in return is to be left in quiet possession of the rath -and the hill and the ancient hawthorn trees that have been theirs from -time immemorial, and where they lead a joyous life with music and -dance, and charming little suppers of the nectar of flowers, down in -the crystal caves, lit by the diamonds that stud the rocks. - -But some small courtesies they require. Never drain your wine-glass at -a feast, nor the poteen flask, nor the milk-pail; and never rake out -all the fire at night, it looks mean, and the fairies like a little of -everything going, and to have the hearth comfortable and warm when they -come in to hold a council after all the mortal people have gone to bed. -In fact, the fairies are born aristocrats, true ladies and gentlemen, -and if treated with proper respect are never in the least malignant or -ill-natured. - -All the traditions of the fairies show that they love beauty and -splendour, grace of movement, music and pleasure; everything, in fact, -that is artistic, in contradistinction to violent, brutal enjoyment. -Only an Aryan people, therefore, could have invented the Sidhe race. - - -IRISH NATURE. - - -The Irish show their Aryan descent by the same characteristics as -the Fairy race, for they also love everything that is artistic—the -fascinations of life, beauty of form, music, poetry, song, splendour, -and noble pleasures. Their kings in ancient times were elected for -their personal beauty as much as for their chivalrous qualities. No -man with a blemish or a deformity was allowed to reign. Then, their -appreciation of intellect proved the value they set on the spiritual -and ideal above the material and the brutal. The poet ranked next -to the princes of the land. His person was sacred in battle; he was -endowed with an estate, so that his soul might be free from sordid -cares; and his robe of many colours, and the golden circlet on his brow -at the festivals, showed his claim and right to rank next to royalty, -and to sit at the right hand of the king. Poetry, learning, music, -oratory, heroism, and splendour of achievement—these were the true -objects of homage and admiration amongst the ancient Irish. - -There was nothing brutal in their ideal of life; no hideous images or -revolting cruelties; and the beautiful and graceful Sidhe race, with -their plaintive music and soft melancholy, and aspirations for a lost -heaven, is the expression in a graceful and beautiful symbol of the -instinctive tendencies of the Irish nature to all that is most divine -in human intellect, and soft and tender in human emotion. - -Ireland is a land of mists and mystic shadows; of cloud-wraiths -on the purple mountains; of weird silences in the lonely hills, -and fitful skies of deepest gloom alternating with gorgeous sunset -splendours. All this fantastic caprice of an ever-varying atmosphere -stirs the imagination, and makes the Irish people strangely sensitive -to spiritual influences. They see visions and dream dreams, and are -haunted at all times by an ever-present sense of the supernatural. -One can see by the form of the Irish head—a slender oval, prominent -at the brows and high in the region of veneration, so different -from the globular Teutonic head—that the people are enthusiasts, -religious, fanatical; with the instincts of poetry, music, oratory, -and superstition far stronger in them than the logical and reasoning -faculties. They are made for worshippers, poets, artists, musicians, -orators; to move the world by passion, not by logic. Scepticism will -never take root in Ireland; infidelity is impossible to the people. To -believe fanatically, trust implicitly, hope infinitely, and perhaps -to revenge implacably—these are the unchanging and ineradicable -characteristics of Irish nature, of Celtic nature, we may say; for it -has been the same throughout all history and all ages. And it is these -passionate qualities that make the Celt the great motive force of the -world, ever striving against limitations towards some vision of ideal -splendour; the restless centrifugal force of life, as opposed to the -centripetal, which is ever seeking a calm quiescent rest within its -appointed sphere. - -The very tendency to superstition, so marked in Irish nature, arises -from an instinctive dislike to the narrow limitations of common sense. -It is characterized by a passionate yearning towards the vague, the -mystic, the invisible, and the boundless infinite of the realms of -imagination. Therefore the _Daine-Sidhe_, the people of the fairy -mansions, have an irresistible attraction for the Irish heart. Like -them, the Irish love youth, beauty, splendour, lavish generosity, -music and song, the feast and the dance. The mirth and the reckless -gaiety of the national temperament finds its true exponent in the mad -pranks of the _Phouka_ and the _Leprehaun_, the merry spirits that -haunt the dells and glens, and look out at the wayfarer from under the -dock-leaf with their glittering eyes. The inspiration that rises to -poetry under the influence of excitement is expressed by the belief in -the _Leanan-Sidhe_, who gives power to song; while the deep pathos of -Irish nature finds its fullest representation in the tender, plaintive, -spiritual music of the wail and lamentation of the _Ban-Sidhe_. - - - - - LEGENDS OF ANIMALS. - - -There are no traces in Irish legend of animal worship, but many -concerning the influence of animals upon human life, and of their -interference with human affairs. - -The peasants believe that the domestic animals know all about us, -especially the dog and the cat. They listen to everything that is said; -they watch the expression of the face, and can even read the thoughts. -The Irish say it is not safe to ask a question of a dog, for he may -answer, and should he do so the questioner will surely die. - -The position of the animal race in the life scheme is certainly full of -mystery. Gifted with extraordinary intelligence, yet with dumb souls -vainly struggling for utterance, they seem like prisoned spirits in -bondage, suffering the punishment, perhaps, for sin in some former -human life, and now waiting the completion of the cycle of expiation -that will advance them again to the human state. - -The three most ancient words in the Irish language are, it is said, -_Tor_, a tower; _Cu_, a hound, and _Bo_, a cow. The latter word is the -same as is found in the Greek _Bosphorus_, and in the nomenclature of -many places throughout Europe. - - -CONCERNING DOGS. - - -Some very weird superstitions exist in Ireland concerning the howlings -of dogs. If a dog is heard to howl near the house of a sick person, -all hope of his recovery is given up, and the patient himself sinks -into despair, knowing that his doom is sealed. But the Irish are not -alone in holding this superstition. The Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and -Romans all looked on the howling of the dog as ominous. The very word -_howling_ may be traced in the Latin _ululu_, the Greek _holuluzo_, the -Hebrew _hululue_, and the Irish _ulluloo_. In Ireland the cry raised at -the funeral ceremony was called the _Caoin_, or keen, probably from -χυων, a dog. And this doleful lamentation was also common to other -nations of antiquity. The Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans had their hired -mourners, who, with dishevelled hair and mournful cadenced hymns, led -on the melancholy parade of death. Thus the Trojan women keened over -Hector, the chorus being led by the beautiful Helen herself. - -The howling of the dog was considered by these nations as the first -note of the funeral dirge and the signal that the coming of death was -near. - -But the origin of the superstition may be traced back to Egypt, where -dogs and dog-faced gods were objects of worship; probably because -Sirius, the Dog-star, appeared precisely before the rising of the -Nile, and thereby gave the people a mystic and supernatural warning to -prepare for the overflow. - -The Romans held that the howling of dogs was a fatal presage of evil, -and it is noted amongst the direful omens that preceded the death of -Cæsar. Horace also says that Canidia by her spells and sorceries could -bring ghosts of dogs from hell; and Virgil makes the dog to howl at the -approach of Hecate. - -It is remarkable that when dogs see spirits (and they are keenly -sensitive to spirit influence) they never bark, but only howl. The -Rabbins say that “when the Angel of Death enters a city the dogs do -howl. But when Elias appears then the dogs rejoice and are merry.” And -Rabbi Jehuda the Just states, that once upon a time when the Angel of -Death entered a house the dog howled and fled; but being presently -brought back he lay down in fear and trembling, and so died. - -This strange superstition concerning the howling of dogs, when, as is -supposed, they are conscious of the approach of the Spirit of Death, -and see him though he is shrouded and invisible to human eyes, may be -found pervading the legends of all nations from the earliest period -down to the present time; for it still exists in full force amongst all -classes, the educated, as well as the unlettered peasantry; and to this -day the howling of a dog where a sick person is lying is regarded in -Ireland in all grades of society with pale dismay as a certain sign of -approaching death. - -The Irish may have obtained the superstition through Egypt, Phœnicia, -or Greece, for it is the opinion of some erudite writers that the Irish -wolf-dog (_Canis gracius Hibernicus_) was descended from the dogs of -Greece. - -It is strange and noteworthy that although the dog is so faithful to -man, yet it is never mentioned in the Bible without an expression -of contempt; and Moses in his code of laws makes the dog an unclean -animal, probably to deter the Israelites from the Egyptian worship of -this animal. It was the lowest term of offence—“Is thy servant a dog?” -False teachers, persecutors, Gentiles, unholy men, and others sunk in -sin and vileness were called dogs; while at the same time the strange -prophetic power of these animals was universally acknowledged and -recognized. - -The Romans sacrificed a dog at the Lupercalia in February. And to meet -a dog with her whelps was considered in the highest degree unlucky. Of -all living creatures the name of “dog” applied to any one expressed the -lowest form of insult, contempt, and reproach. Yet, of all animals, the -dog has the noblest qualities, the highest intelligence, and the most -enduring affection for man. - - * * * * * - -The Irish wolf-dog had a lithe body, a slender head, and was fleet -as the wind. The form of the animal is produced constantly in Irish -ornamentation, but the body always terminates in endless twisted -convolutions. The great Fionn Ma-Coul had a celebrated dog called -“Bran,” who is thus described in the bardic legends: “A ferocious, -small-headed, white-breasted, sleek-haunched hound; having the eyes of -a dragon, the claws of a wolf, the vigour of a lion, and the venom of a -serpent.” - -In the same poem Fionn himself is described in highly ornate bardic -language, as he leads the hound by a chain of silver attached to a -collar of gold: “A noble, handsome, fair-featured Fenian prince; young, -courteous, manly, puissant; powerful in action; the tallest of the -warriors; the strongest of the champions; the most beautiful of the -human race.” - -Bran, like his master, was gifted in a remarkable degree with the -foreknowledge of evil, and thus he was enabled to give his young lord -many warnings to keep him from danger. - -Once, when victory was not for the Fenian host, Bran showed the deepest -sorrow. - -“He came to Fionn, wet and weary, and by this hand,” says the -chronicler, “his appearance was pitiful. He lay down before the chief, -and cried bitterly and howled. - -“‘’Tis likely, my dog,’ saith Fionn, ‘that our heads are in great danger -this day.’” - -Another time, the Fenian host having killed a huge boar, Ossian, the -bard and prophet, ordered it to be burnt as of demon race. Bran, -hearing this, went out readily and knowingly, and he brings in three -trees in his paw; no one knew from whence; but the trees were put into -the fire and the great pig was burnt, and the ashes of the beast were -cast into the sea. - -The Fenian princes generally went to the hunt accompanied altogether by -about three thousand hounds; Bran leading, the wisest and fleetest of -all. The chiefs formed a goodly army, a thousand knights or more—each -wearing a silken shirt and a _chotan_ of fine silk, a green mantle and -fine purple cloak over to protect it; a golden diademed helmet on the -head, and a javelin in each man’s hand. - -Once, a chief, being jealous of the splendour of the Fenian princes, -became their bitter enemy, and set himself to curse Bran above all -hounds in the land. - -But Fionn answered, “If thou shouldest curse Bran, my wise, intelligent -dog, not a room east or west in thy great mansion but I will burn with -fire.” - -So Bran rested on the mountain with Fionn, his lord and master, and was -safe from harm. - -Yet, so fate decreed, Bran finally met his death by means of a woman. -One day a snow-white hart, with hoofs that shone like gold, was scented -on the hill, and all the hounds pursued, Bran leading. Hour after hour -passed by, and still the hart fled on, the hounds following, till one -by one they all dropped off from weariness, and not one was left save -Bran. Then the hart headed for the lake, and reaching a high cliff, she -plunged from it straight down into the water; the noble hound leaped -in at once after her, and seized the hart as she rose to the surface; -but at that instant she changed into the form of a beautiful lady, and -laying her hand upon the head of Bran, she drew him down beneath the -water, and the beautiful lady and Fionn’s splendid hound disappeared -together and were seen no more. But in memory of the event the cliff -from which he leaped is called Coegg-y-Bran; while the lake and the -castle beside it are called _Tiernach Bran_ (the lordship of Bran) to -this day. So the name and memory of Fionn’s hound, and his wisdom and -achievements are not forgotten by the people; and many dogs of the -chase are still called after him, for the name is thought to bring luck -to the hunter and sportsman. But the _Cailleach Biorar_ (the Hag of the -Water) is held in much dread, for it is believed that she still lives -in a cave on the hill, and is ready to work her evil spells whenever -opportunity offers, and her house is shown under the cairn, also the -beaten path she traversed to the lake. Many efforts have been made to -drain the lake, but the Druid priestess, the Hag of the Water, always -interferes, and casts some spell to prevent the completion of the work. -The water of the lake has, it is said, the singular property of turning -the hair a silvery white; and the great Fionn having once bathed -therein, he emerged a withered old man, and was only restored to youth -by means of strong spells and incantations. - - * * * * * - -In Cormac’s Glossary there is an interesting account of how the -first lapdog came into Ireland, for the men of Britain were under -strict orders that no lapdog should be given to the Gael, either of -solicitation or of free will, for gratitude or friendship. - -Now it happened that Cairbré Musc went to visit a friend of his in -Britain, who made him right welcome and offered him everything he -possessed, save only his lapdog, for that was forbidden by the law. -Yet this beautiful lapdog was the one only possession that Cairbré -coveted, and he laid his plans cunningly to obtain it. - -There was a law at that time in Britain to this effect: “Every criminal -shall be given as a forfeit for his crime to the person he has injured.” - -Now Cairbré had a wonderful dagger, around the haft of which was an -adornment of silver and gold. It was a precious jewel, and he took fat -meat and rubbed it all over the haft, with much grease. Then he set it -before the lapdog, who began to gnaw at the haft, and continued gnawing -all night till the morning, so that the haft was spoiled and was no -longer beautiful. - -Then on the morrow, Cairbré made complaint that his beautiful dagger -was destroyed, and he demanded a just recompense. - -“That is indeed fair,” said his friend, “I shall pay a price for the -trespass.” - -“I ask no other price,” said Cairbré, “than what the law of Britain -allows me, namely, the criminal for his crime.” - -So the lapdog was given to Cairbré, and it was called ever after -_Mug-Eimé_, the slave of the haft, which name clung to it because it -passed into servitude as a forfeit for the trespass. - -Now when Cairbré brought it back to Erin with him, all the kings of -Ireland began to wrangle and contend for possession of the lapdog, and -the contention at last ended in this wise—it was agreed that the dog -should abide for a certain time in the house of each king. Afterwards -the dog littered, and each of them had a pup of the litter, and from -this stock descends every lapdog in Ireland from that time till now. - -After a long while the lapdog died, and the bare skull being brought -to the blind poet Maer to try his power of divination, he at once -exclaimed, through the prophetic power and vision in him, “O Mug-Eimé! -this is indeed the head of Mug-Eimé, the slave of the haft, that was -brought into Ireland and given over to the fate of a bondsman, and to -the punishment of servitude as a forfeit.” - - * * * * * - -The word hound entered into many combinations as a name for various -animals. Thus the rabbit was called, “the hound of the brake;” the hare -was the “brown hound;” the moth was called “the hound of fur,” owing -to the voracity with which it devoured raiment. And the otter is still -called by the Irish _Madradh-Uisgue_ (the dog of the water). - -The names of most creatures of the animal kingdom were primitive, the -result evidently of observation. Thus the hedgehog was named “the ugly -little fellow.” The ant was the “slender one.” The trout, _Breac_, or -“the spotted,” from the skin. And the wren was called “the Druid bird,” -because if any one understood the chirrup, they would have a knowledge -of coming events as foretold by the bird. - - -CONCERNING CATS. - - -Cats have been familiar to the human household from all antiquity, but -they were probably first domesticated in Egypt, where, so far back -as two thousand years ago, a temple was dedicated to the goddess of -cats—Bubastis Pasht—represented with a cat’s head. The Greeks had this -feline pet of the house from Egypt, and from Greece the cat race, such -as we have it now, was disseminated over Europe. It was a familiar -element in Greek household life, and if anything was broken, according -to Aristophanes, the phrase went then as now, “The cat did it.” But -cats were never venerated in Greece with religious adoration as in -Egypt, the only country that gave them Divine honour, and where, if -a cat died, the whole family shaved off their eyebrows in token of -mourning. - -The Irish have always looked on cats as evil and mysteriously connected -with some demoniacal influence. On entering a house the usual -salutation is, “God save all here, except the cat.” Even the cake on -the griddle may be blessed, but no one says, “God bless the cat.” - -It is believed that the devil often assumes the form of these animals. -The familiar of a witch is always a black cat; and it is supposed that -black cats have powers and faculties quite different from all other -of the feline tribe. They are endowed with reason, can understand -conversations, and are quite able to talk if they considered it -advisable and judicious to join in the conversation. Their temperament -is exceedingly unamiable, they are artful, malignant, and skilled in -deception, and people should be very cautious in caressing them, for -they have the venomous heart and the evil eye, and are ever ready to -do an injury. Yet the liver of a black cat has the singular power to -excite love when properly administered. If ground to powder and infused -into potion, the recipient is fated to love passionately the person who -offers it and has worked the charm. - -An instance of this is narrated as having happened not very long ago. -A farmer’s daughter, a pretty coquette, attracted the attention of -the young squire of the place. But though he was willing to carry on -a flirtation, the young gentleman had no idea of debasing his proud -lineage by an alliance. Yet a marriage was exactly what the girl -desired, and which she was determined to accomplish. So she and a -friend, an accomplice, searched the village till they found a black -cat, black as night, with only three white hairs on the breast. Him -they seized, and having tied up the animal in a bag, they proceeded to -throw him from one to the other over a low wall, till the poor beast -was quite dead. Then at midnight they began their unholy work. The -liver and heart were extracted in the name of the Evil One, and then -boiled down until they became so dry that they could easily be reduced -to a powder, which was kept for use when opportunity offered. This -soon came; the young squire arrived one evening as usual, to pay a -visit to the pretty Nora, and began to make love to the girl with the -ordinary amount of audacity and hypocrisy. But Nora had other views, -so she made the tea by her little fire in a _black_ teapot, for this -was indispensable, and induced her lover to stay and partake of it with -her, along with a fresh griddle cake. Then cunningly she infused the -powder into his cup and watched him as he drank the tea with feverish -anxiety. The result was even beyond her hopes. A violent and ardent -passion seemed suddenly to have seized the young man, and he not only -made earnest love to the pretty Nora, but offered her his hand in -marriage, vowing that he would kill himself if she refused to become -his lawful bride. To avoid such a catastrophe, Nora gently yielded to -his request, and from that evening they were engaged. Daily visits -followed from the young squire, and each time that he came Nora took -care to repeat the charm of the love powder, so that the love was kept -at fever heat, and finally the wedding day was fixed. - -The family of the young squire were, however, not quite contented, -especially as rumours of witchcraft and devil’s dealings were bruited -about the neighbourhood. And on the very eve of the marriage, just -as the young man was pouring forth his vows of eternal love to the -bride expectant, the door was burst open, and a body of men entered, -headed by the nearest relations of the squire, who proceeded at once to -belabour the young bridegroom with hazel sticks in the most vigorous -manner. In vain the bride tried to interpose. She only drew the blows -on herself, and finally the young man was carried away half stunned, -lifted into the carriage and driven straight home, where he was locked -up in his own room, and not allowed to hold any communication with the -bride elect. - -The daily doses of the powder having thus ceased, he began to recover -from the love madness, and finally the fever passed away. And he looked -back with wonder and horror on the fatal step he had so nearly taken. -Now he saw there was really witchcraft in it, which the power of the -hazel twigs had completely broken. And the accomplice having confessed -the sorcery practised on him by Nora and herself, he hated the girl -henceforth as much as he had once loved her. - -And after a little he went away on foreign travel, and remained abroad -for three years. When he returned, he found that Nora had degenerated -into a withered little witch-faced creature, who was shunned by every -one, and jeered at for the failure of her wicked spells, which had -all come to nothing, though she had the Evil One himself to aid her; -for such is the fate of all who deal in sorcery and devil’s magic, -especially with the help of Satan’s chief instrument of witchcraft—the -black cat. - - * * * * * - -But there is a certain herb of more power even than the cat’s liver to -produce love. Though what this herb is, only the adept knows and can -reveal. The influence it exercises lasts, it is said, for twenty-one -years, and then ceases and cannot be renewed. - -A gentleman, now living, once ate of this herb, which was given to -him by his wife’s serving-maid, and in consequence he was fated to -love the girl for the specified time. Not being then able to endure -his wife’s presence, he sent her away from the house, and devoted -himself exclusively to the servant. Nineteen years have now passed -by, and the poor lady is still waiting patiently to the end of the -twenty-one years, believing that the witch-spell will then cease, and -that her husband’s love will be hers once more. For already he has been -inquiring after her and his children, and has been heard lamenting -the madness that forced him to drive them from the house for the sake -of the menial, who usurped his wife’s place by means of some wicked -sorcery which he had no power to resist. - - -THE KING OF THE CATS. - -A most important personage in feline history is the King of the -Cats. He may be in your house a common looking fellow enough, with -no distinguishing mark of exalted rank about him, so that it is very -difficult to verify his genuine claims to royalty. Therefore the best -way is to cut off a tiny little bit of his ear. If he is really the -royal personage, he will immediately speak out and declare who he is; -and perhaps, at the same time, tell you some very disagreeable truths -about yourself, not at all pleasant to have discussed by the house cat. - -A man once, in a fit of passion, cut off the head of the domestic -pussy, and threw it on the fire. On which the head exclaimed, in a -fierce voice, “Go tell your wife that you have cut off the head of the -King of the Cats; but wait! I shall come back and be avenged for this -insult,” and the eyes of the cat glared at him horribly from the fire. - -And so it happened; for that day year, while the master of the house -was playing with a pet kitten, it suddenly flew at his throat and bit -him so severely that he died soon after. - -A story is current also, that one night an old woman was sitting up -very late spinning, when a knocking came to the door. “Who is there?” -she asked. No answer; but still the knocking went on. “Who is there?” -she asked a second time. No answer; and the knocking continued. “Who is -there?” she asked the third time, in a very angry passion. - -Then there came a small voice—“Ah, Judy, agrah, let me in, for I am -cold and hungry; open the door, Judy, agrah, and let me sit by the -fire, for the night is cold out here. Judy, agrah, let me in, let me -in!” - -The heart of Judy was touched, for she thought it was some small child -that had lost its way, and she rose up from her spinning, and went and -opened the door—when in walked a large black cat with a white breast, -and two white kittens after her. - -They all made over to the fire and began to warm and dry themselves, -purring all the time very loudly; but Judy said never a word, only went -on spinning. - -Then the black cat spoke at last—“Judy, agrah, don’t stay up so late -again, for the fairies wanted to hold a council here to-night, and to -have some supper, but you have prevented them; so they were very angry -and determined to kill you, and only for myself and my two daughters -here you would be dead by this time. So take my advice, don’t interfere -with the fairy hours again, for the night is theirs, and they hate -to look on the face of a mortal when they are out for pleasure or -business. So I ran on to tell you, and now give me a drink of milk, for -I must be off.” - -And after the milk was finished the cat stood up, and called her -daughters to come away. - -“Good-night, Judy, agrah,” she said. “You have been very civil to me, -and I’ll not forget it to you. Good-night, good-night.” - -With that the black cat and the two kittens whisked up the chimney; but -Judy looking down saw something glittering on the hearth, and taking it -up she found it was a piece of silver, more than she ever could make in -a month by her spinning, and she was glad in her heart, and never again -sat up so late to interfere with the fairy hours, but the black cat and -her daughters came no more again to the house. - - -THE DEMON CAT. - -The cat of the foregoing legend had evidently charming manners, and was -well intentioned; but there are other cats of evil and wicked ways, -that are, in fact, demons or witches, who assume the cat-form, in order -to get easy entrance to a house, and spy over everything. - -There was a woman in Connemara, the wife of a fisherman, and as he -always had very good luck, she had plenty of fish at all times stored -away in the house ready for market. But to her great annoyance she -found that a great cat used to come in at night and devour all the best -and finest fish. So she kept a big stick by her and determined to watch. - -One day, as she and a woman were spinning together, the house suddenly -became quite dark; and the door was burst open as if by the blast of -the tempest, when in walked a huge black cat, who went straight up to -the fire, then turned round and growled at them. - -“Why, surely this is the devil!” said a young girl, who was by, sorting -the fish. - -“I’ll teach you how to call me names,” said the cat; and, jumping at -her, he scratched her arm till the blood came. “There now,” he said, -“you will be more civil another time when a gentleman comes to see -you.” And with that he walked over to the door and shut it close to -prevent any of them going out, for the poor young girl, while crying -loudly from fright and pain, had made a desperate rush to get away. - -Just then a man was going by, and hearing the cries he pushed open the -door and tried to get in, but the cat stood on the threshold and would -let no one pass. On this, the man attacked him with his stick, and gave -him a sound blow; the cat, however, was more than his match in the -fight, for it flew at him and tore his face and hands so badly that the -man at last took to his heels and ran away as fast as he could. - -“Now it’s time for my dinner,” said the cat, going up to examine the -fish that was laid out on the tables. “I hope the fish is good to-day. -Now don’t disturb me, nor make a fuss; I can help myself.” With that he -jumped up and began to devour all the best fish, while he growled at -the woman. - -“Away, out of this, you wicked beast!” she cried, giving it a blow with -the tongs that would have broken its back, only it was a devil; “out of -this! No fish shall you have to-day.” - -But the cat only grinned at her, and went on tearing and spoiling and -devouring the fish, evidently not a bit the worse for the blow. On -this, both the women attacked it with sticks, and struck hard blows -enough to kill it, on which the cat glared at them, and spit fire; then -making a leap, it tore their hands and arms till the blood came, and -the frightened women rushed shrieking from the house. - -But presently the mistress returned, carrying with her a bottle of holy -water; and looking in, she saw the cat still devouring the fish, and -not minding. So she crept over quietly and threw the holy water on it -without a word. No sooner was this done than a dense black smoke filled -the place, through which nothing was seen but the two red eyes of the -cat, burning like coals of fire. Then the smoke gradually cleared away, -and she saw the body of the creature burning slowly till it became -shrivelled and black like a cinder, and finally disappeared. And from -that time the fish remained untouched and safe from harm, for the power -of the Evil One was broken, and the demon cat was seen no more. - - * * * * * - -Cats are very revengeful, and one should be very careful not to offend -them. A lady was in the habit of feeding the cat from her own table -at dinner, and no doubt giving it choice morsels; but one day there -was a dinner party, and pussy was quite forgotten. So she sulked and -plotted revenge; and that night, after the lady was in bed, the cat, -who had hid herself in the room, sprang at the throat of her friend -and mistress, and bit her so severely that in a week the lady died of -virulent blood poisoning. - - * * * * * - -Yet it is singular that the blood of the black cat is esteemed of -wonderful power when mixed with herbs, for charms; and also of great -efficacy in potions for the cure of disease; but three drops of the -blood are sufficient, and it is generally obtained by nipping off a -small piece of the tail. - - -CAT NATURE. - -The observation of cats is very remarkable, and also their intense -curiosity. They examine everything in a house, and in a short time know -all about it as well as the owner. They are never deceived by stuffed -birds, or any such weak human delusions. They fathom it all at one -glance, and then turn away with apathetic indifference, as if saying, -in cat language—“We know all about it.” - -A favourite cat in a gentleman’s house was rather fond of nocturnal -rambles and late hours, perhaps copying his master, but no matter what -his engagements were the cat always returned regularly next morning -precisely at nine o’clock, which was the breakfast hour, and _rang the -house bell_ at the hall door. This fact was stated to me on undoubted -authority; and, in truth, there is nothing too wonderful to believe -about the intellect of cats; no matter what strange things may be -narrated of them, nothing should be held improbable or impossible to -their intelligence. - -But cats are decidedly malific; they are selfish, revengeful, -treacherous, cunning, and generally dangerous. The evil spirit in them -is easily aroused. It is an Irish superstition that if you are going -a journey, and meet a cat, you should turn back. But the cat must meet -you on the road, not simply be in the house; and it must look you full -in the face. Then cross yourself and turn back; for a witch or a devil -is in your path. - -It is believed also that if a black cat is killed and a bean placed in -the heart, and the animal afterwards buried, the beans that grow from -that seed will confer extraordinary power; for if a man places one -in his mouth, he will become invisible, and can go anywhere he likes -without being seen. - -Cats have truly something awful in them. According to the popular -belief they know everything that is said, and can take various shapes -through their demoniac power. A cat once lived in a farmer’s family for -many years, and understood both Irish and English perfectly. Then the -family grew afraid of it, for they said it would certainly talk some -day. So the farmer put it into a bag, determined to get rid of it on -the mountains. But on the way he met a pack of hounds, and the dogs -smelt at the bag and dragged it open, on which the cat jumped out; but -the hounds were on it in a moment, and tore the poor animal to pieces. -However, before her death she had time to say to the farmer in very -good Irish—“It is well for you that I must die to-day, for had I lived -I meant to have killed you this very night.” These were the last dying -words of the cat uttered in her death agonies, before the face of many -credible witnesses, so there can be no doubt on the matter. - -Cats were special objects of mysterious dread to the ancient Irish. -They believed that many of them were men and women metamorphosed into -cats by demoniacal power. Cats also were the guardians of hidden -treasure, and had often great battles among themselves on account of -the hidden gold; when a demon, in the shape of the chief cat, led on -the opposing forces on each side, and compelled all the cats in the -district to take part in the conflict. - -The Druidical or royal cat, the chief monarch of all the cats in -Ireland, was endowed with human speech and faculties, and possessed -great and singular privileges. “A slender black cat, wearing a chain of -silver,” so it is described. - -There is a legend that a beautiful princess, a king’s daughter, -having gone down to bathe one day, was there enchanted by her wicked -stepmother, who hated her; and by the spell of the enchantment she was -doomed to be one year a cat, another a swan, and another an otter; -but with the privilege of assuming her natural shape one day in each -year, under certain conditions. It is to be regretted that we have no -account as to the mode in which the Princess Faithlean exercised her -brief enjoyment of human rights; for the narration would have had a -mystic and deep psychological interest if the fair young victim had -only retained during all her transformations the memory of each of her -successive incarnations as the cat, the swan, and the otter. - -This abnormal mode of existence, however, was not unusual amongst the -Irish. Fionn himself had a wife who for seven years was alive by day -and dead by night; and the Irish Princess Zeba, being enchanted by her -wicked stepfather, the king of Munster, died and came to life again -each alternate year. - -All nations seem to have appreciated the mysterious and almost human -qualities of cat nature; the profound cunning, the impertinent -indifference, the intense selfishness, yet capable of the most -hypocritical flatteries when some point has to be gained. Their -traits are not merely the product of brute instinct with unvarying -action and results, but the manifestation of a calculating intellect, -akin to the human. Then their grace and flexile beauty make them -very attractive; while the motherly virtues of the matron cat are -singularly interesting as a study of order, education, and training -for the wilful little kitten, quite on the human lines of salutary -discipline. Humboldt declared that he could spend a whole day with -immense profit and advantage to himself as a philosopher, by merely -watching a cat with her kittens, the profound wisdom of the mother -and the incomparable grace of the children. For cats are thoroughly -well-bred, born aristocrats; never abrupt, fussy, or obtrusive like the -dog, but gentle, grave, and dignified in manner. Cats never run, they -glide softly, and always with perfect and beautiful curves of motion; -and they express their affection, not violently, like the dog, but with -the most graceful, caressing movements of the head. - -Their intellect also is very remarkable, they easily acquire the -meaning of certain words, and have a singular and exact knowledge of -hours. - -Mr. St. George Mivart, in his interesting and exhaustive work on cats, -has devoted a whole chapter to the psychology of the cat; in which he -shows that the race possesses evident mental qualities and peculiar -intelligence, with also a decided and significant language of sounds -and gestures to express the emotions of the cat mind. The highly -reflective and observant nature of the cat is also admirably described -in that very clever novel called “The Poison Tree,” recently translated -from the Bengalee. There the house-cat is drawn with the most lifelike -touches, as she sits watching the noble and beautiful lady at work -on her embroidery, while her little child is playing beside her with -all the pretty toys scattered over the carpet: “The cat’s disposition -was grave: her face indicated much wisdom, and a heart devoid of -fickleness. She evidently was thinking—‘the condition of human -creatures is frightful; their minds are ever given to sewing of canvas, -playing with dolls, or some such silly employment; their thoughts are -not turned to good works, such as providing suitable food for cats. -What will become of them hereafter!’ Then, seeing no means by which -the disposition of mankind could be improved, the cat, heaving a sigh, -slowly departs.” - - -SEANCHAN THE BARD AND THE KING OF THE CATS. - - -There is an amusing legend preserved in Ossianic tradition of the -encounter between Seanchan, the celebrated chief poet of Ireland, and -the King of all the Cats, who dwelt in a cave near Clonmacnoise. - -In ancient Ireland the men of learning were esteemed beyond all other -classes; all the great ollaves and professors and poets held the very -highest social position, and took precedence of the nobles, and ranked -next to royalty. The leading men amongst them lived luxuriously in -the great Bardic House; and when they went abroad through the country -they travelled with a train of minor bards, fifty or more, and were -entertained free of cost by the kings and chiefs, who considered -themselves highly honoured by the presence of so distinguished a -company at their court. If the receptions were splendid and costly, -the praise of the entertainer was chanted by all the poets at the -feast; but if any slight were offered, then the Ard-Filé poured forth -his stinging satire in such bitter odes, that many declared they would -sooner die than incur the anger of the poets or be made the subject of -their scathing satire. - -All the learned men and professors, the ollaves of music, poetry, -oratory, and of the arts and sciences generally, formed a great Bardic -Association, who elected their own president, with the title of Chief -Poet of all Ireland, and they also elected chief poets for each of -the provinces. Learned women, likewise, and poetesses, were included -in the Bardic Association, with distinct and recognized privileges, -both as to revenue and costly apparel. Legal enactments even were -made respecting the number of colours allowed to be worn in their -mantles—the poet being allowed six colours, and the poetess five in her -robe and mantle; the number of colours being a distinct recognition -and visible sign of rank, and therefore very highly esteemed. But, in -time, as a consequence of their many and great privileges, the pride -and insolence of the learned class, the ollamhs, poets, and poetesses, -became so insufferable, that even the kings trembled before them. This -is shown in the Ossianic tale, from which we may gather that Seanchan -the Bard, when entertained at the court of King Guaire, grew jealous of -the attention paid to the nobles while he was present. So he sulked at -the festival, and made himself eminently disagreeable, as will be seen -by the following legend:— - -When Seanchan, the renowned Bard, was made _Ard-Filé_, or Chief Poet of -Ireland, Guaire, the king of Connaught, to do him honour, made a great -feast for him and the whole Bardic Association. And all the professors -went to the king’s house, the great ollaves of poetry and history and -music, and of the arts and sciences; and the learned, aged females, -Grug and Grag and Grangait; and all the chief poets and poetesses of -Ireland, an amazing number. But Guaire the king entertained them all -splendidly, so that the ancient pathway to his palace is still called -“The Road of the Dishes.” - -And each day he asked, “How fares it with my noble guests?” But they -were all discontented, and wanted things he could not get for them. -So he was very sorrowful, and prayed to God to be delivered from “the -learned men and women, a vexatious class.” - -Still the feast went on for three days and three nights. And they drank -and made merry. And the whole Bardic Association entertained the nobles -with the choicest music and professional accomplishments. - -But Seanchan sulked and would neither eat nor drink, for he was jealous -of the nobles of Connaught. And when he saw how much they consumed of -the best meats and wine, he declared he would taste no food till they -and their servants were all sent away out of the house. - -And when Guaire asked him again, “How fares my noble guest, and this -great and excellent people?” Seanchan answered, “I have never had worse -days, nor worse nights, nor worse dinners in my life.” And he ate -nothing for three whole days. - -Then the king was sorely grieved that the whole Bardic Association -should be feasting and drinking while Seanchan, the chief poet of Erin, -was fasting and weak. So he sent his favourite serving-man, a person of -mild manners and cleanliness, to offer special dishes to the bard. - -“Take them away,” said Seanchan; “I’ll have none of them.” - -“And why, oh, Royal Bard?” asked the servitor. - -“Because thou art an uncomely youth,” answered Seanchan. “Thy -grandfather was chip-nailed—I have seen him; I shall eat no food from -thy hands.” - -Then the king called a beautiful maiden to him, his foster daughter, -and said, “Lady, bring thou this wheaten cake and this dish of salmon -to the illustrious poet, and serve him thyself.” So the maiden went. - -But when Seanchan saw her he asked: “Who sent thee hither, and why hast -thou brought me food?” - -“My lord the king sent me, oh, Royal Bard,” she answered, “because I -am comely to look upon, and he bade me serve thee with food myself.” - -“Take it away,” said Seanchan, “thou art an unseemly girl, I know of -none more ugly. I have seen thy grandmother; she sat on a wall one day -and pointed out the way with her hand to some travelling lepers. How -could I touch thy food?” So the maiden went away in sorrow. - -And then Guaire the king was indeed angry, and he exclaimed, “My -malediction on the mouth that uttered that! May the kiss of a leper be -on Seanchan’s lips before he dies!” - -Now there was a young serving-girl there, and she said to Seanchan, -“There is a hen’s egg in the place, my lord, may I bring it to thee, -oh, Chief Bard?” - -“It will suffice,” said Seanchan; “bring it that I may eat.” - -But when she went to look for it, behold the egg was gone. - -“Thou hast eaten it,” said the bard, in wrath. - -“Not so, my lord,” she answered; “but the mice, the nimble race, have -carried it away.” - -“Then I will satirize them in a poem,” said Seanchan; and forthwith he -chanted so bitter a satire against them that ten mice fell dead at once -in his presence. - -“’Tis well,” said Seanchan; “but the cat is the one most to blame, -for it was her duty to suppress the mice. Therefore I shall satirize -the tribe of the cats, and their chief lord, Irusan, son of Arusan. -For I know where he lives with his wife Spit-fire, and his daughter -Sharp-tooth, with her brothers, the Purrer and the Growler. But I shall -begin with Irusan himself, for he is king, and answerable for all the -cats.” - -And he said—“Irusan, monster of claws, who strikes at the mouse, but -lets it go; weakest of cats. The otter did well who bit off the tips of -thy progenitor’s ears, so that every cat since is jagged-eared. Let thy -tail hang down; it is right, for the mouse jeers at thee.” - -Now Irusan heard these words in his cave, and he said to his daughter, -Sharp-tooth: “Seanchan has satirized me, but I will be avenged.” - -“Nay, father,” she said, “bring him here alive, that we may all take -our revenge.” - -“I shall go then and bring him,” said Irusan; “so send thy brothers -after me.” - -Now when it was told to Seanchan that the King of the Cats was on his -way to come and kill him, he was timorous, and besought Guaire and all -the nobles to stand by and protect him. And before long a vibrating, -impressive, impetuous sound was heard, like a raging tempest of fire -in full blaze. And when the cat appeared he seemed to them of the -size of a bullock; and this was his appearance—rapacious, panting, -jagged-eared, snub-nosed, sharp-toothed, nimble, angry, vindictive, -glare-eyed, terrible, sharp-clawed. Such was his similitude. But he -passed on amongst them, not minding till he came to Seanchan; and him -he seized by the arm and jerked him up on his back, and made off the -way he came before any one could touch him; for he had no other object -in view but to get hold of the poet. - -Now Seanchan, being in evil plight, had recourse to flattery. “Oh, -Irusan,” he exclaimed, “how truly splendid thou art, such running, such -leaps, such strength, and such agility! But what evil have I done, oh, -Irusan, son of Arusan? spare me, I entreat. I invoke the saints between -thee and me, oh, great King of the Cats.” - -But not a bit did the cat let go his hold for all this fine talk, but -went straight on to Clonmacnoise where there was a forge; and St. -Kieran happened to be there standing at the door. - -“What!” exclaimed the saint; “is that the Chief Bard of Erin on the -back of a cat? Has Guaire’s hospitality ended in this?” And he ran for -a red-hot bar of iron that was in the furnace, and struck the cat on -the side with it, so that the iron passed through him, and he fell down -lifeless. - -“Now my curse on the hand that gave that blow!” said the bard, when he -got upon his feet. - -“And wherefore?” asked St. Kieran. - -“Because,” answered Seanchan, “I would rather Irusan had killed me, and -eaten me every bit, that so I might bring disgrace on Guaire for the -bad food he gave me; for it was all owing to his wretched dinners that -I got into this plight.” - -And when all the other kings heard of Seanchan’s misfortunes, they sent -to beg he would visit their courts. But he would have neither kiss nor -welcome from them, and went on his way to the bardic mansion, where the -best of good living was always to be had. And ever after the kings were -afraid to offend Seanchan. - -So as long as he lived he had the chief place at the feast, and all -the nobles there were made to sit below him, and Seanchan was content. -And in time he and Guaire were reconciled; and Seanchan and all the -ollamhs, and the whole Bardic Association, were feasted by the king -for thirty days in noble style, and had the choicest of viands and the -best of French wines to drink, served in goblets of silver. And in -return for his splendid hospitality the Bardic Association decreed, -unanimously, a vote of thanks to the king. And they praised him in -poems as “Guaire the Generous,” by which name he was ever after known -in history, for the words of the poet are immortal. - - -THE BARDS. - - -The Irish kings in ancient times kept up splendid hospitality at their -respective courts, and never sat down to an entertainment, it was -said, without a hundred nobles at least being present. Next in rank -and superb living to the royal race came the learned men, the ollamhs -and poets; they were placed next the king, and above the nobles at -the festivals, and very gorgeous was the appearance of the Ard-Filé -on these occasions, in his white robes clasped with golden brooches, -and a circlet of gold upon his head; while by his side lay the golden -harp, which he seized when the poetic frenzy came upon him, and swept -the chords to songs of love, or in praise of immortal heroes. The -queen alone had the privilege to ask the poet to recite at the royal -banquets, and while he declaimed, no man dared to interrupt him by a -single word. - -A train of fifty minor bards always attended the chief poet, and they -were all entertained free of cost wherever they visited, throughout -Ireland, while the Ard-Filé was borne on men’s shoulders to the palace -of the king, and there presented with a rich robe, a chain, and a -girdle of gold. Of one bard, it is recorded that the king gave him, in -addition, his horse and armour, fifty rings to his hand, one thousand -ounces of pure gold, and his chess-board. - -The game of chess is frequently referred to in the old bardic tales; -and chess seems to have been a favourite pastime with the Irish from -the most remote antiquity. The pieces must have been of great size, -for it is narrated that the great Cuchullen killed a messenger who had -told him a lie, by merely flinging a chessman at him, which pierced his -brain. The royal chess-board was very costly and richly decorated. One -is described in a manuscript of the twelfth century: “It was a board -of silver and pure gold, and every angle was illuminated with precious -stones. And there was a man-bag of woven brass wire.” But the ancestors -of the same king had in their hall a chess-board with the pieces formed -of the _bones of their hereditary enemies_. - -The dress of the bards added to their splendour, for the Brehon laws -enacted that the value of the robes of the chief poet should be five -milch cows, and that of the poetess three cows; the queen’s robes being -of the value of seven cows, including a diadem and golden veil, and a -robe of scarlet silk, embroidered in divers colours. The scions of the -royal house had also the right to seven colours in their mantle; while -the poet was allowed six, and the poetess five—the number of colours -being a sign of dignity and rank. - -Learning was always highly esteemed in Ireland, and in ancient Erin the -_literati_ ranked next to the kings. - -The great and wise _Ollamh-Fodla_, king of Ireland in Druidic times, -built and endowed a college at Tara, near the royal palace, which -was called _Mur-Ollamh_, “the Wall of the Learned.” All the arts and -sciences were represented there by eminent professors, the great -ollaves of music, history, poetry, and oratory; and they lived and -feasted together, and formed the great Bardic Association, ruled over -by their own president, styled the Ard-Filé, or chief poet of Ireland, -from _Filidecht_ (philosophy or the highest wisdom); for the poets, -above all men, were required to be pure and free from all sin that -could be a reproach to learning. From them was demanded— - - “Purity of hand, - Purity of mouth, - Purity of learning, - Purity of marriage;” - -and any ollamh that did not preserve these four purities lost half his -income and his dignity, the poet being esteemed not only the highest -of all men for his learning and intellect, but also as being the true -revealer of the supreme wisdom. - -Music was sedulously taught and cultivated at the college of the -ollamhs; for all the ancient life of Ireland moved to music. - -The Brehons seated on a hill intoned the laws to the listening people; -the Senachies chanted the genealogies of the kings; and the Poets -recited the deeds of the heroes, or sang to their gold harps those -exquisite airs that still enchant the world, and which have been wafted -down along the centuries, an echo, according to tradition, of the soft, -pathetic, fairy music, that haunted the hills and glens of ancient -Ireland. - -The chief poet was required to know by heart four hundred poems, and -the minor bards two hundred. And they were bound to recite any poem -called for by the kings at the festivals. On one occasion a recitation -was demanded of the legend of the _Taine-bo-Cuailne_, or The Great -Cattle Raid, of which Maeve, queen of Connaught, was the heroine, but -none of the bards knew it. This was felt to be a great disgrace, and -Seanchan and the bards set forth to traverse Ireland in search of the -story of the Taine, under _Geasa_, or a solemn oath, not to sleep twice -in the same place till it was found. - -At length it was revealed to them that only the dead Fergus-Roy knew -the poem, and forthwith they proceeded to his grave, and fasted and -prayed for three days, while they invoked him to appear. And on their -invocation Fergus-Roy uprose in awful majesty, and stood in his grave -clothes before them, and recited the Taine from beginning to end to the -circle of listening bards. Then, having finished, he descended again -into the grave, and the earth closed over him. - -During this expedition, Guaire the Generous took charge of all the -wives and the poetesses of the Bardic Association, so as they should -not trouble the bards while on their wanderings in search of the ballad -of the Taine. Yet they do not seem to have been great feeders, these -learned ladies; for it is related of one of them, Brigit the poetess, -that although she only ate one hen’s egg at a meal, yet she was called -“Brigit of the great appetite.” - -It was on their return from the search for the Taine that the bards -decreed a vote of thanks to Guaire the king. - -In order to keep up the dignity of the great bardic clan, an income -was paid by the State to each of the professors and poets according to -his eminence; that of the chief poet being estimated by antiquarians -at about five thousand a year of our money, for the lofty and learned -Bardic Association disdained commerce and toil. The Fileas lived only -on inspiration and the hospitality of their royal and noble patrons, -which they amply repaid by laudatory odes and sonnets. But, if due -homage were denied them, they denounced the ungenerous and niggard -defaulter in the most scathing and bitter satires. Of one chief it is -recorded that he absolutely went mad and died in consequence of the -malignant poems that were made on him by a clever satirical bard. - -At last the Brehons found it necessary to take cognizance of this -cruel and terrible implement of social torture, and enactments were -framed against it, with strict regulations regarding the quality and -justice of the satires poured out by the poets on those who had the -courage to resist their exactions and resent their insolence. Finally, -however, the ollamhs, poets, and poetesses became so intolerable that -the reigning king of Ireland about the seventh century made a great -effort to extirpate the whole bardic race, but failed; they were too -strong for him, though he succeeded in, at least, materially abridging -their privileges, lessening their revenues, and reducing their numbers; -and though they still continued to exist as the Bardic Association, -yet they never afterwards regained the power and dignity which they -once held in the land, before their pride and insolent contempt of -all classes who were not numbered amongst the ollamhs and fileas, had -aroused such violent animosity. The Brehon laws also decreed, as to -the distraint of a poet, that his horsewhip be taken from him, “as a -warning that he is not to make use of it until he renders justice.” -Perhaps by the horsewhip was meant the wand or staff which the poets -carried, made of wood, on which it is conjectured they may have -inscribed their verses in the Ogham character. - -The Brehons seem to have made the most minute regulations as to the -life of the people, even concerning the domestic cats. In the _Senchas -Mor_ (The Great Antiquity) it is enacted that the cat is exempt from -liability for eating the food which he finds in the kitchen, “owing -to negligence in taking care of it.” But if it were taken from the -security of a vessel, then the cat is in fault, and he may safely be -killed. The cat, also, is exempt from liability for injuring an idler -in catching mice while mousing; but _half-fines_ are due from him for -the profitable worker he may injure, and the excitement of his mousing -takes the other half. For the distraint of a dog, a stick was placed -over his trough in order that he be not fed. And there was a distress -of two days for a black and white cat if descended from the great -champion, which was taken from the ship of Breasal Breac, in which were -white-breasted black cats; the same for the lapdog of a queen. - - -KING ARTHUR AND THE CAT. - - -While on the subject of cats, the curious and interesting legend of -“King Arthur’s Fight with the Great Cat” should not be passed over; -for though not exactly Irish, yet it is at least Celtic, and belongs -by affinity to our ancient race. It is taken from a prose romance of -the fifteenth century, entitled, “Merlin; or, The Early Life of King -Arthur,” recently edited, from the unique Cambridge Manuscript, by Mr. -Wheatly. - -Merlin told the king that the people beyond the Lake of Lausanne -greatly desired his help, “for there repaireth a devil that destroyeth -the country. It is a cat so great and ugly that it is horrible to look -on.” For one time a fisher came to the lake with his nets, and he -promised to give our Lord the first fish he took. It was a fish worth -thirty shillings; and when he saw it so fair and great, he said to -himself softly, “God shall not have this; but I will surely give Him -the next.” Now, the next was still better, and he said, “Our Lord may -wait yet awhile; but the third shall be His without doubt.” So he cast -his net, but drew out only a little kitten, as black as any coal. - -And when the fisher saw it he said he had need of it at home for -rats and mice; and he nourished it and kept it in his house till it -strangled him and his wife and children. Then the cat fled to a high -mountain and destroyed and slew all that came in his way, and was great -and terrible to behold. - -When the king heard this he made ready and rode to the Lac de Lausanne -and found the country desolate and void of people, for neither man nor -woman would inhabit the place for fear of the cat. - -And the king was lodged a mile from the mountain, with Sir Gawvain and -Merlin and others. And they clomb the mountain, Merlin leading the way. -And when they were come up, Merlin said to the king, “Sir, in that rock -liveth the cat;” and he showed him a great cave, large and deep, in the -mountain. - -“And how shall the cat come out?” said the king. - -“That shall ye see hastily,” quoth Merlin; “but look you, be ready to -defend, for anon he will assail you.” - -“Then draw ye all back,” said the king, “for I will prove his power.” - -And when they withdrew, Merlin whistled loud, and the cat leaped out -of the cave, thinking it was some wild beast, for he was hungry and -fasting; and he ran boldly to the king, who was ready with his spear, -and thought to smite him through the body. But the fiend seized the -spear in his mouth and broke it in twain. - -Then the king drew his sword, holding his shield also before him. And -as the cat leaped at his throat, he struck him so fiercely that the -creature fell to the ground; but soon was up again, and ran at the king -so hard that his claws gripped through the hauberk to the flesh, and -the red blood followed the claws. - -Now the king was nigh falling to earth; but when he saw the red blood -he was wonder-wrath, and with his sword in his right hand and his -shield at his breast, he ran at the cat vigorously, who sat licking -his claws, all wet with blood. But when he saw the king coming towards -him, he leapt up to seize him by the throat, as before, and stuck his -fore-feet so firmly in the shield that they stayed there; and the king -smote him on the legs, so that he cut them off to the knees, and the -cat fell to the ground. - -Then the king ran at him with his sword; but the cat stood on his -hind-legs and grinned with his teeth, and coveted the throat of the -king, and the king tried to smite him on the head; but the cat strained -his hinder feet and leaped at the king’s breast, and fixed his teeth in -the flesh, so that the blood streamed down from breast and shoulder. - -Then the king struck him fiercely on the body, and the cat fell head -downwards, but the feet stayed fixed in the hauberk. And the king smote -them asunder, on which the cat fell to the ground, where she howled and -brayed so loudly that it was heard through all the host, and she began -to creep towards the cave; but the king stood between her and the cave, -and when she tried to catch him with her teeth he struck her dead. - -Then Merlin and the others ran to him and asked how it was with him. - -“Well, blessed be our Lord!” said the king, “for I have slain this -devil; but, verily, I never had such doubt of myself, not even when I -slew the giant on the mountain; therefore I thank the Lord.” - -(This was the great giant of St. Michael’s Mount, who supped all the -season on seven knave children chopped in a charger of white silver, -with powder of precious spices, and goblets full plenteous of Portugal -wine.) - -“Sir,” said the barons, “ye have great cause for thankfulness.” - -Then they looked on the feet that were left in the shield and in the -hauberk, and said, “Such feet were never seen before!” And they took -the shield and showed it to the host with great joy. - -So the king let the shield be with the cat’s feet; but the other feet -he had laid in a coffin to be kept. And the mountain was called from -that day, “The Mountain of the Cat,” and the name will never be changed -while the world endureth. - - -CONCERNING COWS. - - -The most singular legends of Ireland relate to bulls and cows, and -there are hundreds of places all commencing with the word _Bo_ (one -of the most ancient words in the Irish language), which recall some -mystic or mythical story of a cow, especially of a white heifer, which -animal seems to have been an object of the greatest veneration from all -antiquity. - -In old times there arose one day a maiden from the sea, a beautiful -Berooch, or mermaid, and all the people on the Western Coast of Erin -gathered round her and wondered at her beauty. And the great chief of -the land carried her home to his house, where she was treated like a -queen. - -And she was very gentle and wise, and after some time she acquired the -language, and could talk to the people quite well in their own Irish -tongue, to their great delight and wonder. Then she informed them that -she had been sent to their country by a great spirit, to announce the -arrival in Ireland of the three sacred cows—_Bo-Finn_, _Bo-Ruadh_, and -_Bo-Dhu_—the white, the red, and the black cows, who were destined to -fill the land with the most splendid cattle, so that the people should -never know want while the world lasted. - -This was such good news that the people in their delight carried the -sea-maiden from house to house in procession, in order that she might -tell it herself to every one; and they crowned her with flowers, while -the musicians went before her, singing to their harps. - -After dwelling with them a little longer she asked to be taken back -to the sea, for she had grown sad at being away so long from her own -kindred. So, on May Eve, a great crowd accompanied her down to the -strand, where she took leave of them, telling them that on that day -year they should all assemble at the same place to await the arrival of -the three cows. Then she plunged into the sea and was seen no more. - -However, on that day year all the people of Ireland assembled on the -shore to watch, as they had been directed by the beautiful sea-maiden; -and all the high cliffs and all the rocks were covered with anxious -spectators from the early dawn. Nor did they wait in vain. Exactly at -noon the waves were stirred with a mighty commotion, and three cows -rose up from the sea—a white, a red, and a black—all beautiful to -behold, with sleek skins, large soft eyes, and curved horns, white as -ivory. They stood upon the shore for a while, looking around them. -Then each one went in a different direction, by three roads; the -black went south, the red went north, and the milk-white heifer—the -_Bo-Finn_—crossed the plain of Ireland to the very centre, where stood -the king’s palace. And every place she passed was named after her, and -every well she drank at was called _Lough-na-Bo_, or _Tober-Bo-Finn_ -(the well of the white cow), so her memory remains to this day. - -In process of time the white heifer gave birth to twins, a male and -female calf, and from them descended a great race, still existing in -Ireland; after which the white cow disappeared into a great cave by -the sea, the entrance to which no man knows. And there she remains, -and will remain, in an enchanted sleep, until the true king of Eire, -the lord of Ireland, shall come to waken her; but the lake near the -cave is still known as _Lough-na-Bo-banna_ (the lake of the snow-white -cow). Yet some say that it was the king’s daughter was carried off -by enchantment to the cave, in the form of a cow, and she will never -regain her form until she sleeps on the summit of each of the three -highest mountains in Ireland; but only the true king of Eire can wake -her from her sleep, and bring her to “the rock of the high place,” when -she will be restored at last to her own beautiful form. - -Another legend says that a red-haired woman struck the beautiful -Bo-Finn with her staff, and smote her to death; and the roar which the -white cow gave in dying was heard throughout the whole of Ireland, and -all the people trembled. This is evidently an allegory. The beautiful -Bo-Finn—the white cow—is Ireland herself; and the red-haired woman who -smote her to death was Queen Elizabeth, “in whose time, after her cruel -wars, the cry of the slaughtered people was heard all over the land, -and went up to heaven for vengeance against the enemies of Ireland; -and the kingdom was shaken as by an earthquake, by the roar of the -oppressed against the tyrant.” - -The path of the white cow across Ireland is marked by small rude -stone monuments, still existing. They show the exact spot where she -rested each night and had her bed, and the adjoining lands have names -connected with the tradition—as, “The plain of the Fenian cows;” -“The hill of worship;” “The pool of the spotted ox,” called after him -because he always waited to drink till the white cow came, for they -were much attached to each other. - -There are also Druid stones at one resting-place, with Ogham marks on -them. Some time ago an endeavour was made to remove and carry off the -stones of one of the monuments; but the man who first put a spade in -the ground was “struck,” and remained bedridden for seven years. - -The plain of the death of the _Bo-banna_ (the white cow), where -she gave the roar that shook all Ireland is called “the plain of -lamentation.” It never was tilled, and never will be tilled. The people -hold it as a sacred spot, and until recently it was the custom to have -dances there every Sunday. But these old usages are rapidly dying out; -for though meant originally as mystic ceremonies, yet by degrees they -degenerated to such licentious revelry that the wrath of the priesthood -fell on them, and they were discontinued. - -There is a holy well near “the plain of lamentation,” called -_Tobar-na-Bo_ (the well of the white cow); and these ancient names, -coming down the stream of time from the far-off Pagan era, attest the -great antiquity of the legend of the coming to Ireland of the mystic -and beautiful _Bo-Finn_. - -There is another legend concerning the arrival of the three cows—the -white, the red, and the black—which is said to be taken from the Book -of Enoch. - -Four cows sprang at once from the earth—two white, a red, and a -black—and one of the four went over to the white cow and taught it a -mystery. And it trembled and became a man, and this was the first man -that appeared in Erin. And the man fashioned a ship and dwelt there -with the cows while a deluge covered the earth. And when the waters -ceased, the red and the black cows went their way, but the white -remained. - -The story is supposed by Bryant to be a literal rendering of some -ancient hieroglyph, descriptive of the three races of mankind, and of -the dispersion of the primal human family. - - -FAIRY WILES. - -The fairies are very desirous to abduct handsome cows and carry them -off to the fairy palace under the earth; and if a farmer happens -to find one of his stock ailing or diseased, the belief is that -the fairies have carried off the real good animal, and sent an old -wizened witch to take the form of the farmer’s cow. It is therefore -to neutralize the fairy spells that the cattle are driven through -the fire on St. John’s Eve; and other devices are employed—a bunch of -primroses is very effective tied on the tail, or a hot coal run down -the cow’s back to singe the hair. - -One evening a boy was driving home his father’s cows when a fairy -blast arose in the form of a whirlwind of dust, on which the cows took -fright, and one of them ran upon a fairy rath. The boy followed to turn -her back, when he was met and stopped by an old witch-woman. - -“Let her alone, Alanna,” she cried, “she is on our ground now, and you -can’t take her away. So just run home and tell your father that on -this day twelvemonth the cow will be restored to him, and bring a fine -young calf along with her. But the fairies want her badly now, for our -beautiful queen down there is fretting her life out for want of some -milk that has the scent of the green grass in it and of the fresh upper -air. Now don’t fret, Alanna, but trust my words. There, take yon hazel -stick and strike the cow boldly three times on the head, that so the -way may be clear we have to travel.” - -With that the boy struck the animal as he was desired, for the old -witch-woman was so nice and civil that he liked to oblige her, and -immediately after she and the cow vanished away as if they had sunk -into the earth. - -However, the father minded the time, and when that day year came round -he sent his son to the fairy rath to see if the witch had kept her -promise, and there truly was the cow standing quite patiently, and a -fine white calf by her side. So there were great rejoicings when he -brought them home, for the fairies had kept their promise and behaved -honourably, as indeed they always do when properly treated and trusted. - - * * * * * - -Not but that the fairies will do wicked things sometimes, and, above -all, steal the milk when they get a chance, or skim the cream off the -milk crocks. - -A farmer had a fine cow that was the pride of his farm and gave -splendid milk, but suddenly the animal seemed ailing and queer; for -she gave no milk, but went every morning and stood under the old -hawthorn-tree quite quietly as if some one were milking her. - -So the man watched the place at milking time, and as usual down the -field came the cow and took up her position close under the old -hawthorn. Then the farmer beheld the trunk of the tree open, and out of -the cleft came a little witch-woman all in red, who milked the cow in a -vessel she had with her, and then she retreated into the tree again. - -Here was devil’s work in earnest, so thought the farmer, and he -hastened off for the greatest fairy doctor in the country. And when he -came the cow was singed all along its back with a live coal; and then -an incantation was said over it, but no one heard the words the fairy -doctor uttered; after this he gave the animal a strong potion to drink, -but no one knew the herbs of which it was made. However, the next day -the cow was quite restored, and gave her milk as heretofore, and the -spell was broken for ever and ever, after they had drawn a circle round -the old hawthorn-tree with a red-hot piece of iron taken from the -hearth; for neither witch nor fairy can pass a circle of fire. - - -THE DEAD HAND. - - -Witchcraft is sometimes practised by the people to produce butter in -the churn, the most efficacious being to stir the milk round with the -hand of a dead man, newly taken from the churchyard; but whoever is -suspected of this practice is looked upon with great horror and dread -by the neighbours. - -A woman of the mainland got married to a fine young fellow of one of -the islands. She was a tall, dark woman who seldom spoke, and kept -herself very close and reserved from every one. But she minded her -business; for she had always more butter to bring to market than any -one else, and could therefore undersell the other farmers’ wives. Then -strange rumours got about concerning her, and the people began to -whisper among themselves that something was wrong, and that there was -witchcraft in it, especially as it was known that whenever she churned -she went into an inner room off the kitchen, shut the door close, and -would allow no one to enter. So they determined to watch and find out -the secret, and one day a girl from the neighbourhood, when the woman -was out, got in through a window and hid herself under the bed, waiting -there patiently till the churning began. - -At last in came the woman, and having carefully closed the door began -her work with the milk, churning in the usual way without any strange -doings that might seem to have magic in them. But presently she -stopped, and going over to a box unlocked it, and from this receptacle, -to the girl’s horror, she drew forth the hand of a dead man, with which -she stirred the milk round and round several times, going down on her -knees and muttering an incantation all the while. - -Seven times she stirred the milk with the dead hand, and seven times -she went round the churn on her knees muttering some strange charm. -After this she rose up and began to gather the butter from the churn -with the dead hand, filling a pail with as much butter as the milk of -ten cows. When the pail was quite full she dipped the dead hand three -times in the milk, then dried it and put it back again in the box. - -The girl, as soon as she could get away unperceived, fled in horror -from the room, and spread the news amongst the people. At once a crowd -gathered round the house with angry cries and threats to break open the -door to search for the dead hand. - -At last the woman appeared calm and cold as usual, and told them they -were taking a deal of trouble about nothing, for there was no dead hand -in the house. However, the people rushed in and searched, but all they -saw was a huge fire on the hearth, though the smell of burning flesh -was distinctly perceptible, and by this they knew that she had burnt -the dead hand. Yet this did not save her from the vengeance of the -neighbours. She was shunned by every one; no one would eat with her, or -drink with her, or talk to her, and after a while she and her husband -quitted the island and were never more heard of. - -However, after she left and the butter was brought to the market, all -the people had their fair and equal rights again, of which the wicked -witchcraft of the woman had defrauded them for so long, and there was -great rejoicing in the island over the fall and punishment of the -wicked witch of the dead hand. - - -THE WICKED WIDOW. - - -The evil spells over milk and butter are generally practised by women, -and arise from some feeling of malice or envy against a prosperous -neighbour. But the spell will not work unless some portion of the milk -is first given by consent. The people therefore are very reluctant -to give away milk, unless to some friend that they could not suspect -of evil. Tramps coming in to beg for a mug of milk should always be -avoided, they may be witches in disguise; and even if milk is given, it -must be drunk in the house, and not carried away out of it. In every -case the person who enters must give a hand to the churn, and say, “God -bless all here.” - -A young farmer, one of the fine handsome fellows of the West, named -Hugh Connor, who was also well off and rich, took to wife a pretty -young girl of the village called Mary, one of the Leydons, and there -was no better girl in all the country round, and they were very -comfortable and happy together. But Hugh Connor had been keeping -company before his marriage with a young widow of the place, who had -designs on him, and was filled with rage when Mary Leydon was selected -for Connor’s bride, in place of herself. Then a desire for vengeance -rose up in her heart, and she laid her plans accordingly. First she -got a fairy woman to teach her some witch secrets and spells, and -then by great pretence of love and affection for Mary Connor, she got -frequent admission to the house, soothing and flattering the young -wife; and on churning days she would especially make it a point to come -in and offer a helping hand, and if the cakes were on the griddle, she -would sit down to watch and turn them. But it so happened that always -on these days the cakes were sure to be burned and spoiled, and the -butter would not rise in the churn, or if any did come, it was sour -and bad, and of no use for the market. But still the widow kept on -visiting, and soothing, and flattering, till Mary Connor thought she -was the very best friend to her in the whole wide world, though it was -true that whenever the widow came to the house something evil happened. -The best dish fell down of itself off the dresser and broke; or the -rain got in through the roof, and Mary’s new cashmere gown, a present -that had come to her all the way from Dublin, was quite ruined and -spoiled. But worse came, for the cow sickened, and a fine young brood -of turkeys walked straight into the lake and got drowned. And still -worst of all, the picture of the Blessed Virgin Mother, that was pinned -up to the wall, fell down one day, and was blown into the fire and -burned. - -After this, what luck could be on the house? and Mary’s heart sank -within her, and she fairly broke down, and cried her very life out in a -torrent of tears. - -Now it so happened that an old woman with a blue cloak, and the hood -of it over her head, a stranger, was passing by at the time, and she -stepped in and asked Mary kindly what ailed her. So Mary told her all -her misfortunes, and how everything in the house seemed bewitched for -evil. - -“Now,” said the stranger, “I see it all, for I am wise, and know the -mysteries. Some one with the Evil Eye comes to your house. We must find -out who it is.” - -Then Mary told her that the nearest friend she had was the widow, but -she was so sweet and kind, no one could suspect her of harm. - -“We’ll see,” said the stranger, “only do as I bid you, and have -everything ready when she comes.” - -“She will be here soon,” said Mary, “for it is churning day, and she -always comes to help exactly at noon.” - -“Then I’ll begin at once; and now close the door fast,” said the -stranger. - -And with that, she threw some herbs on the fire, so that a great smoke -arose. Then she took all the plough irons that were about, and one -of them she drove into the ground close beside the churn, and put a -live coal beside it; and the other irons she heated red-hot in the -fire, and still threw on more herbs to make a thick smoke, which Mary -thought smelt like the incense in the church. Then with a hot iron rod -from the fire, the strange woman made the sign of the cross on the -threshold, and another over the hearth. After which a loud roaring was -heard outside, and the widow rushed in crying out that a hot stick was -running through her heart, and all her body was on fire. And then she -dropped down on the floor in a fit, and her face became quite black, -and her limbs worked in convulsions. - -“Now,” said the stranger, “you see who it is put the Evil Eye on all -your house; but the spell has been broken at last. Send for the men to -carry her back to her own house, and never let that witch-woman cross -your threshold again.” - -After this the stranger disappeared, and was seen no more in the -village. - -Now when all the neighbours heard the story, they would have no -dealings with the widow. She was shunned and hated; and no respectable -person would be seen talking to her, and she went by the name of the -Evil Witch. So her life was very miserable, and not long after she died -of sheer vexation and spite, all by herself alone, for no one would go -near her; and the night of the wake no one went to offer a prayer, for -they said the devil would be there in person to look after his own. And -no one would walk with her coffin to the grave, for they said the devil -was waiting at the churchyard gate for her; and they firmly believe -to this day that her body was carried away on that night from the -graveyard by the powers of darkness. But no one ventured to test the -truth of the story by opening the coffin, so the weird legend remains -still unsolved. - -But as for Hugh Connor and the pretty Mary, they prospered after that -in all things, and good luck and the blessing of God seemed to be -evermore on them and their house, and their cattle, and their children. -At the same time, Mary never omitted on churning days to put a red-hot -horse-shoe under the churn according as the stranger had told her, who -she firmly believed was a good fairy in disguise, who came to help her -in the time of her sore trouble and anxiety. - - -THE BUTTER MYSTERY. - - -There were two brothers who had a small farm and dairy between them, -and they were honest and industrious, and worked hard to get along, -though they had barely enough, after all their labour, just to keep -body and soul together. - -One day while churning, the handle of the dash broke, and nothing -being near to mend it, one of the brothers cut off a branch from an -elder-tree that grew close to the house, and tied it to the dash for a -handle. Then the churning went on, but to their surprise, the butter -gathered so thick that all the crocks in the house were soon full, and -still there was more left. The same thing went on every churning day, -so the brothers became rich, for they could fill the market with their -butter, and still had more than enough for every buyer. - -At last, being honest and true men, they began to fear that there was -witchcraft in it, and that they were wronging their neighbours by -abstracting their butter, and bringing it to their own churn in some -strange way. So they both went off together to a great fairy doctor, -and told him the whole story, and asked his advice. - -“Foolish men,” he said to them, “why did you come to me? for now you -have broken the spell, and you will never have your crocks filled with -butter any more. Your good fortune has passed away, for know the truth -now. You were not wronging your neighbours; all was fair and just that -you did, but this is how it happened. Long ago, the fairies passing -through your land had a dispute and fought a battle, and having no -arms, they flung lumps of butter at each other, which got lodged in the -branches of the elder-tree in great quantities, for it was just after -May Eve, when butter is plenty. This is the butter you have had, for -the elder-tree has a sacred power which preserved it until now, and it -came down to you through the branch you cut for a handle to the dash. -But the spell is broken now that you have uttered the mystery, and you -will have no more butter from the elder-tree.” - -Then the brothers went away sorrowful, and never after did the butter -come beyond the usual quantity. However, they had already made so much -money that they were content. And they stocked their farm, and all -things prospered with them, for they had dealt uprightly in the matter, -and the blessing of the Lord was on them. - - -CONCERNING BIRDS - - -In all countries superstitions of good or evil are attached to certain -birds. The raven, for instance, has a wide-world reputation as the -harbinger of evil and ill-luck. The wild geese portend a severe winter; -the robin is held sacred, for no one would think of harming a bird who -bears on his breast the blessed mark of the blood of Christ; while the -wren is hunted to death with intense and cruel hate on St. Stephen’s -Day. - - -THE MAGPIE. - - -There is no Irish name for the Magpie. It is generally called -_Francagh_, a Frenchman, though no one knows why. Many queer tales are -narrated of this bird, arising from its quaint ways, its adroit cunning -and habits of petty larceny. Its influence is not considered evil, -though to meet one alone in the morning when going a journey is an ill -omen, but to meet more than one magpie betokens good fortune, according -to the old rhyme which runs thus— - - “One for Sorrow, - Two for Mirth, - Three for Marriage, - Four for a Birth.” - - -THE WREN. - - -The wren is mortally hated by the Irish; for on one occasion, when the -Irish troops were approaching to attack a portion of Cromwell’s army, -the wrens came and perched on the Irish drums, and by their tapping and -noise aroused the English soldiers, who fell on the Irish troops and -killed them all. So ever since the Irish hunt the wren on St. Stephen’s -Day, and teach their children to run it through with thorns and kill -it whenever it can be caught. A dead wren was also tied to a pole and -carried from house to house by boys, who demanded money; if nothing -was given the wren was buried on the door-step, which was considered a -great insult to the family and a degradation. - - -THE RAVEN AND WATER WAGTAIL. - - -If ravens come cawing about a house it is a sure sign of death, for the -raven is Satan’s own bird; so also is the water wagtail, yet beware of -killing it, for it has three drops of the devil’s blood in its little -body, and ill-luck ever goes with it, and follows it. - - -THE CUCKOO AND ROBIN REDBREAST. - - -It is very unlucky to kill the cuckoo or break its eggs, for it brings -fine weather; but most unlucky of all things is to kill the robin -redbreast. The robin is God’s own bird, sacred and holy, and held in -the greatest veneration because of the beautiful tradition current -amongst the people, that it was the robin plucked out the sharpest -thorn that was piercing Christ’s brow on the cross; and in so doing the -breast of the bird was dyed red with the Saviour’s blood, and so has -remained ever since a sacred and blessed sign to preserve the robin -from harm and make it beloved of all men. - - -CONCERNING LIVING CREATURES. - - -THE CRICKET. - - -The crickets are believed to be enchanted. People do not like to -express an exact opinion about them, so they are spoken of with great -mystery and awe, and no one would venture to kill them for the whole -world. But they are by no means evil; on the contrary, the presence -of the cricket is considered lucky, and their singing keeps away the -fairies at night, who are always anxious, in their selfish way, to have -the whole hearth left clear for themselves, that they may sit round the -last embers of the fire, and drink the cup of milk left for them by the -farmer’s wife, in peace and quietness. The crickets are supposed to be -hundreds of years old, and their talk, could we understand it, would no -doubt be most interesting and instructive. - - -THE BEETLE. - - -The beetle is not killed by the people for the following reason: they -have a tradition that one day the chief priests sent messengers in -every direction to look for the Lord Jesus, and they came to a field -where a man was reaping, and asked him— - -“Did Jesus of Nazareth pass this way?” - -“No,” said the man, “I have not seen him.” - -“But I know better,” said a little clock running up, “for He was here -to-day and rested, and has not long gone away.” - -“That is false,” said a great big black beetle, coming forward; “He has -not passed since yesterday, and you will never find Him on this road; -try another.” - -So the people kill the clock because he tried to betray Christ; but -they spare the beetle and will not touch him, because he saved the Lord -on that day. - - -THE HARE. - - -Hares are considered unlucky, as the witches constantly assume their -form in order to gain entrance to a field where they can bewitch the -cattle. A man once fired at a hare he met in the early morning, and -having wounded it, followed the track of the blood till it disappeared -within a cabin. On entering he found Nancy Molony, the greatest witch -in all the county, sitting by the fire, groaning and holding her side. -And then the man knew that she had been out in the form of a hare, and -he rejoiced over her discomfiture. - -Still it is not lucky to kill a hare before sunrise, even when it -crosses your path; but should it cross _three_ times, then turn back, -for danger is on the road before you. - -A tailor one time returning home very late at night from a wake, or -better, very early in the morning, saw a hare sitting on the path -before him, and not inclined to run away. As he approached, with his -stick raised to strike her, he distinctly heard a voice saying, “Don’t -kill it.” However, he struck the hare three times, and each time heard -the voice say, “Don’t kill it.” But the last blow knocked the poor hare -quite dead; and immediately a great big weasel sat up, and began to -spit at him. This greatly frightened the tailor who, however, grabbed -the hare, and ran off as fast as he could. Seeing him look so pale and -frightened, his wife asked the cause, on which he told her the whole -story; and they both knew he had done wrong, and offended some powerful -witch, who would be avenged. However, they dug a grave for the hare and -buried it; for they were afraid to eat it, and thought that now perhaps -the danger was over. But next day the man became suddenly speechless, -and died off before the seventh day was over, without a word evermore -passing his lips; and then all the neighbours knew that the witch-woman -had taken her revenge. - - -THE WEASEL. - - -Weasels are spiteful and malignant, and old withered witches sometimes -take this form. It is extremely unlucky to meet a weasel the first -thing in the morning; still it would be hazardous to kill it, for it -might be a witch and take revenge. Indeed one should be very cautious -about killing a weasel at any time, for all the other weasels will -resent your audacity, and kill your chickens when an opportunity -offers. The only remedy is to kill one chicken yourself, make the sign -of the cross solemnly three times over it, then tie it to a stick hung -up in the yard, and the weasels will have no more power for evil, nor -the witches who take their form, at least during the year, if the -stick is left standing; but the chicken may be eaten when the sun goes -down. - - * * * * * - -A goose is killed on St. Michael’s Day because the son of a king, being -then at a feast, was choked by the bone of a goose; but was restored by -St. Patrick. Hence the king ordered a goose to be sacrificed every year -on the anniversary of the day to commemorate the event, and in honour -of St. Michael. - - * * * * * - -A fowl is killed on St. Martin’s Day, and the blood sprinkled on the -house. In Germany a black cock is substituted. - - * * * * * - -A crowing hen, a whistling girl, and a black cat, are considered most -unlucky. Beware of them in a house. - - * * * * * - -If a cock comes on the threshold and crows, you may expect visitors. - - * * * * * - -To see three magpies on the left hand when on a journey is unlucky; but -two on the right hand is a good omen. - - * * * * * - -If you hear the cuckoo on your right hand you will have luck all the -year after. - - * * * * * - -Whoever kills a robin redbreast will never have good luck were they to -live a thousand years. - - * * * * * - -A water wagtail near the house betokens bad news on its way to you. - - * * * * * - -If the first lamb of the season is born black, it foretells mourning -garments for the family within the year. - - * * * * * - -It is very lucky for a hen and her chickens to stray into your house. -Also it is good to meet a white lamb in the early morning with the -sunlight on its face. - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky to meet a magpie, a cat, or a lame woman when going a -journey. Or for a cock to meet a person in the doorway and crow before -him—then the journey should be put off. - - * * * * * - -If one magpie comes chattering to your door it is a sign of death; but -if two prosperity will follow. For a magpie to come to the door and -look at you is a sure death-sign, and nothing can avert the doom. - - * * * * * - -A flight of rooks over an army betokens defeat; if over a house, or -over people when driving or walking, death will follow. - - * * * * * - -It is very unlucky to ask a man on his way to fish where he is going. -And many would turn back, knowing that it was an evil spell. - - * * * * * - -When a swarm of bees suddenly quits the hive it is a sign that death is -hovering near the house. But the evil may be averted by the powerful -prayers and exorcism of the priest. - - * * * * * - -The shoe of a horse or of an ass nailed to the door-post will bring -good luck; because these animals were in the stall when Christ was -born, and are blessed for evermore. But the shoe must be found, not -given, in order to bring luck. - - * * * * * - -In whatever quarter you are looking when you first hear the cuckoo in -the season, you will be travelling in that direction before the year is -over. - - * * * * * - -It was the privilege of the chief bards to wear mantles made of birds’ -plumage. A short cape flung on the shoulders made of mallards’ necks -and crests must have been very gorgeous in effect, glittering like -jewels, when the torch-light played on the colours at the festivals. - - -THE PROPERTIES OF HERBS AND THEIR USE IN MEDICINE. - - -The Irish, according to the saying of a wise man of the race, are -the last of the 305 great Celtic nations of antiquity spoken of by -Josephus, the Jewish historian; and they alone preserve inviolate the -ancient venerable language, minstrelsy, and Bardic traditions, with the -strange and mystic secrets of herbs, through whose potent powers they -can cure disease, cause love or hatred, discover the hidden mysteries -of life and death, and dominate over the fairy wiles or the malific -demons. - -The ancient people used to divine future events, victory in wars, -safety in a dangerous voyage, triumph of a projected undertaking, -success in love, recovery from sickness, or the approach of death; -all through the skilful use of herbs, the knowledge of which had come -down to them through the earliest traditions of the human race. One of -these herbs, called the _Fairy-plant_, was celebrated for its potent -power of divination; but only the adepts knew the mystic manner of its -preparation for use. - -There was another herb of which a drink was made, called _the Bardic -potion_, for the Bards alone had the secret of the herb, and of the -proper mode of treatment by which its mystic power could be revealed. -This potion they gave their infant children at their birth, for it had -the singular property of endowing the recipient with a fairy sweetness -of voice of the most rapturous and thrilling charm. And instances are -recorded of men amongst the Celtic Bards, who, having drunk of this -potion in early life, were ever after endowed with the sweet voice, -like fairy music, that swayed the hearts of the hearers as they chose -to love or war, joy or sadness, as if by magic influence, or lulled -them into the sweet calm of sleep. Such, according to the Bardic -legends, was the extraordinary power of voice possessed by the great -Court Minstrel of Fionn Ma-Coul, who resided with the great chief at -his palace of Almhuin, and always sat next him at the royal table. - -The virtue of herbs is great, but they must be gathered at night, and -laid in the hand of a dead man to hold. There are herbs that produce -love, and herbs that produce sterility; but only the fairy doctor knows -the secrets of their power, and he will reveal the knowledge to no man -unless to an adept. The wise women learn the mystic powers from the -fairies, but how they pay for the knowledge none dare to tell. - -The fairy doctors are often seized with trembling while uttering a -charm, and look round with a scared glance of terror, as if some awful -presence were beside them. But the people have the most perfect faith -in the herb-men and wise women, and the faith may often work the cure. - -There are seven herbs of great value and power; they are ground ivy, -vervain, eyebright, groundsel, foxglove, the bark of the elder-tree, -and the young shoots of the hawthorn. - -Nine balls of these mixed together may be taken, and afterwards a -potion made of bog-water and salt, boiled in a vessel, with a piece of -money and an elf-stone. The elf-stone is generally found near a rath; -it has great virtues, but being once lifted up by the spade it must -never again touch the earth, or all its virtue is gone. (This elf-stone -is in reality only an ancient stone arrow-head.) - - * * * * * - -The _Mead Cailleath_, or wood anemone, is used as a plaister for wounds. - - * * * * * - -The hazel-tree has many virtues. It is sacred and powerful against -devils’ wiles, and has mysteries and secret properties known to the -wise and the adepts. The ancient Irish believed that there were -fountains at the head of the chief rivers of Ireland, over each of -which grew nine hazel-trees that at certain times produced beautiful -red nuts. These nuts fell on the surface of the water, and the salmon -in the river came up and ate of them, which caused the red spots on the -salmon. And whoever could catch and eat one of these salmon would be -indued with the sublimest poetic intellect. Hence the phrase current -amongst the people: “Had I the net of science;” “Had I eaten of the -salmon of knowledge.” And this supernatural knowledge came to the great -Fionn through the touch of a salmon, and made him foreknow all events. - - * * * * * - -Of all herbs the yarrow is the best for cures and potions. It is even -sewn up in clothes as a preventive of disease. - - * * * * * - -The _Liss-more_, or great herb, has also strong healing power, and is -used as a charm. - - * * * * * - -There is an herb, also, or fairy grass, called the _Faud Shaughran_, or -the “stray sod,” and whoever treads the path it grows on is compelled -by an irresistible impulse to travel on without stopping, all through -the night, delirious and restless, over bog and mountain, through -hedges and ditches, till wearied and bruised and cut, his garments -torn, his hands bleeding, he finds himself in the morning twenty or -thirty miles, perhaps, from his own home. And those who fall under -this strange influence have all the time the sensation of flying and -are utterly unable to pause or turn back or change their career. There -is, however, another herb that can neutralize the effects of the _Faud -Shaughran_, but only the initiated can utilize its mystic properties. - -Another grass is the _Fair-Gortha_, or the “hunger-stricken sod,” and -if the hapless traveller accidentally treads on this grass by the -road-side, while passing on a journey, either by night or day, he -becomes at once seized with the most extraordinary cravings of hunger -and weakness, and unless timely relief is afforded he must certainly -die. - - * * * * * - -When a child is sick a fairy woman is generally sent for, who makes a -drink for the patient of those healing herbs of which she only has the -knowledge. A childless woman is considered to have the strongest power -over the secrets of herbs, especially those used for the maladies of -children. - - * * * * * - -There is an herb, grown on one of the western islands off the coast -of Connemara, which is reported to have great and mystic power. But -no one will venture to pronounce its name. If it is desired to know -for certain whether one lying sick will recover, the nearest relative -must go out and look for the herb just as the sun is rising. And while -holding it in the hand, an ancient form of incantation must be said. If -the herb remains fresh and green the patient will certainly recover; -but if it wither in the hand while the words of the incantation are -said over it, then the sick person is doomed. He will surely die. - - * * * * * - -It was from their great knowledge of the properties of herbs that -the Tuatha-de-Dananns obtained the reputation of being sorcerers and -necromancers. At the great battle of Moytura in Mayo, fought about -three thousand years ago, Dianecht, the great, wise Druid physician -to the army, prepared a bath of herbs and plants in the line of the -battle, of such wonderful curative efficacy that the wounded who -were plunged into it came out whole, it being a sovereign remedy for -all diseases. But the king of the Tuatha having lost his hand in the -combat, the bath had no power to heal him. So Dianecht made him a -silver hand, and the monarch was ever after known in history as _Nuad -Airgeat lamh_ (Nuad of the silver hand). - - * * * * * - -All herbs pulled on May Day Eve have a sacred healing power, if pulled -in the name of the Holy Trinity; but if in the name of Satan, they -work evil. Some herbs are malific if broken by the hand. So the plant -is tied to a dog’s foot, and when he runs it breaks, without a hand -touching it, and may be used with safety. - -A man pulled a certain herb on May Eve to cure his son who was sick to -death. The boy recovered, but disappeared and was never heard of after, -and the father died that day year. He had broken the fatal herb with -the hand and so the doom fell on him. - -Another man did the like, and gave the herb to his son to eat, who -immediately began to bark like a dog, and so continued till he died. - - * * * * * - -The fatal herbs have signs known only to the fairy doctors, who should -always be consulted before treating the sick in the family. - -There are _seven_ herbs that nothing natural or supernatural can -injure; they are vervain, John’s-wort, speedwell, eyebright, mallow, -yarrow, and self-help. But they must be pulled at noon on a bright day, -near the full of the moon, to have full power. - -It is firmly believed that the herb-women who perform curses receive -their knowledge from the fairies, who impart to them the mystical -secrets of herbs and where to find them; but these secrets must not -be revealed except on the death-bed, and then only to the eldest of -the family. Many mysterious rites are practised in the making and the -giving of potions; and the messenger who carries the draught to the -sufferer must never look behind him nor utter a word till he hands the -medicine to the patient, who instantly swallows a cup of the mixture -before other hands have touched it. - -A celebrated doctor in the south was an old woman, who had lived -seven years with the fairies. She performed wonderful cures, and only -required a silver tenpence to be laid on her table for the advice given -and for the miraculous herb potion. - - -A LOVE POTION. - - -Some of the country people have still a traditional remembrance of very -powerful herbal remedies, and love potions are even now frequently -in use. They are generally prepared by an old woman; but must be -administered by the person who wishes to inspire the tender passion. At -the same time, to give a love potion is considered a very awful act, as -the result may be fatal, or at least full of danger. - -A fine, handsome young man, of the best character and conduct, suddenly -became wild and reckless, drunken and disorderly, from the effect, it -was believed, of a love potion administered to him by a young girl who -was passionately in love with him. When she saw the change produced in -him by her act, she became moody and nervous, as if a constant terror -were over her, and no one ever saw her smile again. Finally, she became -half deranged, and after a few years of a strange, solitary life, she -died of melancholy and despair. This was said to be “The Love-potion -Curse.” - - -LOVE DREAMS. - - -The girl who wishes to see her future husband must go out and gather -certain herbs in the light of the full moon of the new year, repeating -this charm— - - “Moon, moon, tell unto me - When my true love I shall see? - What fine clothes am I to wear? - How many children shall I bear? - For if my love comes not to me - Dark and dismal my life will be.” - -Then the girl, cutting three pieces of clay from the sod with a -black-hafted knife, carries them home, ties them up in the left -stocking with the right garter, places the parcel under her pillow, and -dreams a true dream of the man she is to marry and of all her future -fate. - - -TO CAUSE LOVE. - - -Ten leaves of the hemlock dried and powdered and mixed in food or drink -will make the person you like to love you in return. Also keep a sprig -of mint in your hand till the herb grows moist and warm, then take hold -of the hand of the woman you love, and she will follow you as long as -the two hands close over the herb. No invocation is necessary; but -silence must be kept between the two parties for ten minutes, to give -the charm time to work with due efficacy. - - -MEDICAL SUPERSTITIONS AND ANCIENT CHARMS. - - -The healing art in all the early stages of a nation’s life, and amongst -all primitive tribes, has been associated with religion. For the -wonderful effects produced by certain herbs and modes of treatment were -believed by the simple and unlettered people to be due to supernatural -influence acting in a mystic and magical manner on the person afflicted. - -The medicine men were therefore treated with the profoundest awe -and respect. And the medicine women came in also for their share of -veneration and often of superstitious dread; for their mysterious -incantations were supposed to have been taught to them by fairies and -the spirits of the mountain. - -The Irish from the most remote antiquity were devoted to mystical -medicine, and had a remarkable knowledge of cures and remedies for -disease, obtained through the power and action of herbs on the human -frame. - -The physicians of the pagan era formed a branch of the Druid -priesthood, and were treated with distinguished honour. They had -special places assigned to them at the royal banqueting table at -Tara, and a certain revenue was secured to them that they might live -honourably. - -When in attendance on a patient the doctor was entitled by law to his -diet, along with four of his pupils; but if he failed to cure from -deficiency of skill, he was obliged to refund the fees and pay back all -the expenses of his keep; a measure which no doubt greatly stimulated -the serious attention of the learned ollamhs of healing to the case in -hand. - -So great, indeed, was the importance attached to the healing art in -Ireland, that even prior to the Christian era, a building of the nature -of an hospital was erected at Tara, near to the palace of the king. -This was called “The House of Sorrow,” and the sick and wounded were -provided there with all necessary care. - -On one occasion it is recorded that a great chief and prince out of -Munster was brought to “The House of Sorrow” to be treated of wounds -received in battle, but the attendant, through treachery, placed -poison in the wounds, and then closed them so carefully that there was -no external sign, though the groans of the wounded man were terrible to -hear. Then the learned Fioneen was sent for, “the prophetic physician,” -as he was called, from his great skill in diagnosis; and when he -arrived with three of his pupils at the hospital they found the chief -lying prostrate, groaning in horrible agony. - -“What groan is that?” asked the master of the first pupil. - -“It is from a poisoned barb,” he answered. - -“And what groan is that?” asked the master, of the second pupil. - -“It is from a hidden reptile,” he answered. - -“And what groan is that?” asked Fioneen of the third pupil. - -“It is from a poisoned seed,” he answered. - -Then Fioneen set to work, and having cauterized the wounds with red hot -irons, the poisonous bodies were extracted from beneath the skin, and -the chief was healed. - -In later times the Irish physicians were much celebrated for their -learning, and numerous Irish medical manuscripts are in existence, -both in Ireland and England, and are also scattered through the public -libraries of the continent. They are chiefly written in Latin, with a -commentary in Irish, and show a thorough knowledge on the part of the -writers of the works of Hippocrates, Galen, Aristotle, and others as -celebrated. For after the introduction of Christianity Latin was much -cultivated in the Irish schools, and the priests and physicians not -only wrote, but could converse fluently in Latin, which language became -the chief medium of communication between them and the learned men of -the continent. But the most ancient mode of procedure amongst the Irish -ollamhs and adepts was of a medico-religious character; consisting -of herb cures, fairy cures, charms, invocations, and certain magical -ceremonies. A number of these cures have been preserved traditionally -by the people, and form a very interesting study of early medical -superstitions, as they have been handed down through successive -generations; for the profession of a physician was hereditary in -certain families, and the accumulated lore of centuries was transmitted -carefully from father to son by this custom and usage. - - * * * * * - -Many of the ancient cures and charms are strange and mystic, and were -accompanied by singular mysterious forms, which no doubt in many -cases aided the cure; especially amongst a people so imaginative and -susceptible to spiritual influences as the Irish. Others show a fervent -faith and have a pathetic simplicity of expression, such as we find in -“The Charm against Sorrow,” and others, from the original Irish, of -equal pathos and tenderness, to be quoted further on. The utterance -evidently of a people of deep, almost sublime, faith in the Divine -power of the Ruler of the world, and of the ever-present ministration -of saints and angels to humanity. - -Every act of the Irish peasant’s life has always been connected -with the belief in unseen spiritual agencies. The people live in an -atmosphere of the supernatural, and nothing would induce them to slight -an ancient form or break through a traditional usage. They believe -that the result would be something awful; too terrible to be spoken of -save in a whisper, should the customs of their forefathers be lightly -interfered with. - -In the Western Islands especially, the old superstitions that have -come down from the ancient times are observed with the most solemn -reverence, and the people in fact, as to their habits and ideas, remain -much the same as St. Patrick left them fourteen hundred years ago. The -swift currents of thought that stir the great centres of civilization -and impel the human intellect on its path of progress, have never -reached them; all the waves of the centuries drift by their shores and -leave them unchanged. - -It is therefore in the islands and along the western coast that one -gathers most of those strange legends, charms, mysteries, and world-old -superstitions which have lingered longer in Ireland than in any other -part of Europe. - -Many of those included in the following selection were narrated by -the peasants, either in Irish, or in the expressive Irish-English, -which still retains enough of the ancient idiom to make the language -impressively touching and picturesque. The ancient charms which -have come down by tradition from a remote antiquity are peculiarly -interesting from their deep human pathos, blended with the sublime -trust in the Divine invisible power, so characteristic of the Irish -temperament in all ages. A faith that believes implicitly, trusts -devoutly, and hopes infinitely; when the soul in its sorrow turns to -heaven for the aid which cannot be found on earth, or given by earthly -hands. The following charms from the Irish express much of this mingled -spirit of faith and hope:— - - -AGAINST SORROW. - - -A charm set by Mary for her Son, before the fair man and the turbulent -woman laid Him in the grave. - - The charm of Michael with the shield; - Of the palm-branch of Christ; - Of Bridget with her veil. - -The charm which God set for Himself when the divinity within Him was -darkened. - -A charm to be said by the cross when the night is black and the soul is -heavy with sorrow. - -A charm to be said at sunrise, with the hands on the breast, when the -eyes are red with weeping, and the madness of grief is strong. - -A charm that has no words, only the silent prayer. - - -TO WIN LOVE. - - -“O Christ, by your five wounds, by the nine orders of angels, if this -woman is ordained for me, let me hold her hand now, and breathe her -breath. O my love, I set a charm to the top of your head; to the sole -of your foot; to each side of your breast, that you may not leave me -nor forsake me. As a foal after the mare, as a child after the mother, -may you follow and stay with me till death comes to part us asunder. -AMEN.” - - -_Another._ - -A charm of most desperate love, to be written with a raven’s quill in -the blood of the ring finger of the left hand. - -“By the power that Christ brought from heaven, mayest thou love me, -woman! As the sun follows its course, mayest thou follow me. As light -to the eye, as bread to the hungry, as joy to the heart, may thy -presence be with me, O woman that I love, till death comes to part us -asunder.” - - -FOR THE NIGHT-FIRE (THE FEVER). - - -“God save thee, Michael, archangel! God save thee!” - -“What aileth thee, O man?” - -“A headache and a sickness and a weakness of the heart. O Michael, -archangel, canst thou cure me, O angel of the Lord?” - -“May three things cure thee, O man. May the shadow of Christ fall on -thee! May the garment of Christ cover thee! May the breath of Christ -breathe on thee! And when I come again thou wilt be healed.” - -These words are said over the patient while his arms are lifted in the -form of a cross, and water is sprinkled on his head. - - -FOR A PAIN IN THE SIDE. - - -“God save you, my three brothers, God save you! And how far have ye to -go, my three brothers?” - -“To the Mount of Olivet, to bring back gold for a cup to hold the tears -of Christ.” - -“Go, then. Gather the gold; and may the tears of Christ fall on it, and -thou wilt be cured, both body and soul.” - -These words must be said while a drink is given to the patient. - - -FOR THE MEASLES. - - -“‘The child has the measles,’ said John the Baptist. - -“‘The time is short till he is well,’ said the Son of God. - -“‘When?’ said John the Baptist. - -“‘Sunday morning, before sunrise,’ said the Son of God.” - -This is to be repeated three times, kneeling at a cross, for three -mornings before sunrise, and the child will be cured by the Sunday -following. - - -FOR THE MAD FEVER. - - -Three stones must be charmed by the hands of a wise fairy doctor, and -cast by his hand, saying as he does so— - -“The first stone I cast is for the head in the mad fever; the second -stone I cast is for the heart in the mad fever; the third stone I cast -is for the back in the mad fever. - -“In the name of the Trinity, let peace come. AMEN.” - - -AGAINST ENEMIES. - - -Three things are of the Evil One— - - An evil eye; - An evil tongue; - An evil mind. - -Three things are of God; and these three are what Mary told to her Son, -for she heard them in heaven— - - The merciful word; - The singing word; - And the good word. - -May the power of these three holy things be on all the men and women of -Erin for evermore. - - -TO EXTRACT A THORN. - - -“The briar that spreads, the thorn that grows, the sharp spike that -pierced the brow of Christ, give you power to draw this thorn from the -flesh, or let it perish inside; in the name of the Trinity. AMEN.” - - -TO CAUSE HATRED BETWEEN LOVERS. - - -Take a handful of clay from a new-made grave, and shake it between -them, saying— - -“Hate ye one another! May ye be as hateful to each other as sin to -Christ, as bread eaten without blessing is to God.” - - -FOR LOVE. - - -This is a charm I set for love; a woman’s charm of love and desire; a -charm of God that none can break— - -“You for me, and I for thee and for none else; your face to mine, and -your head turned away from all others.” - -This is to be repeated three times secretly, over a drink given to the -one beloved. - - -HOW TO HAVE MONEY ALWAYS. - - -Kill a black cock, and go to the meeting of three cross-roads where a -murderer is buried. Throw the dead bird over your left shoulder then -and there, after nightfall, in the name of the devil, holding a piece -of money in your hand all the while. And ever after, no matter what you -spend, you will always find the same piece of money undiminished in -your pocket. - - -FOR THE GREAT WORM.[8] - - -“I kill a hound. I kill a small hound. I kill a deceitful hound. I kill -a worm, wherein there is terror; I kill all his wicked brood. Seven -angels from Paradise will help me, that I may do valiantly, and give no -more time to the worm to live than while I recite this prayer. AMEN.” - - [8] The ancient serpent-idol was called in Irish, “The Great Worm.” - St. Patrick destroyed it, and had it thrown into the sea. There are - no serpents now to be found in Ireland, not even grass snakes or - scorpions. - - -FOR SORE EYES. - - -“Take away the pain, O Mary, mother, and scatter the mist from the -eyes. For all power is given to the mother of Christ to give light to -the eyes, and to drive the red mist back to the billows whence it came.” - - -FOR PAINS IN THE BODY. - - -Rub the part affected with flax and tow, heated in the fire, repeating -in Irish— - -“In the name of a rough man and a mild woman, and of the Lamb of God, -be healed from your pains and your sins. So be it. AMEN.” - -This custom refers to the tradition that one day the Lord Christ, being -weary, asked leave to rest in a house, but was refused by the master of -the house, a rough, rude man. Then the wife, being a mild woman, had -pity on the wayfarer, and brought Him in to rest, and gave Him a cup -of water to drink, and spake kindly to Him. After which the man was -suddenly taken with severe pains, and seemed like to die in his agony. - -On this Christ called for some flax and tow, and, breathing on it, -placed it on the part affected, by which means the man was quite -healed. And then the Lord Christ went His way, but not before the man -had humbly asked pardon for his rudeness to a stranger. - -The tradition of this cure has remained ever since, and a hot plaster -of flax and tow is used by the peasantry invariably for all sudden -pains, and found to be most efficacious as a cure. - - -AGAINST DROWNING. - - - “May Christ and His saints stand between you and harm. - Mary and her Son. - St. Patrick with his staff. - Martin with his mantle. - Bridget with her veil. - Michael with his shield. - And God over all with His strong right hand.” - - -IN TIME OF BATTLE. - - -“O Mary, who had the victory over all women, give me victory now over -my enemies, that they may fall to the ground, as wheat when it is mown.” - - -FOR THE RED RASH. - - -“Who will heal me from the red, thirsty, shivering cold disease that -came from the foreigner, and kills people with its poisonous pain?” -“The prayer of Mary to her Son, the prayer of Columbkill to God; these -will heal thee. AMEN.” - - -_Another._ - -Say this oration three times over the patient, making the sign of the -cross each time— - -“Bridget, Patrick, Solomon, and the great Mary, banish this redness off -you.” - -Then take butter, breathe on it quite close, and give it to the person -to chafe himself therewith. - -To ascertain if he will recover, put a handful of yarrow in his hand -while he is sleeping; if it is withered in the morning he will die; but -if it remains fresh the disease will leave him. - - -TO TAME A HORSE. - - -Whisper the Creed in his right ear on a Friday, and again in his left -ear on a Wednesday. Do this weekly till he is tamed; for so he will be. - - -A VERY ANCIENT CHARM AGAINST WOUNDS OR POISONS. - - -“The poison of a serpent, the venom of the dog, the sharpness of the -spear, doth not well in man. The blood of one dog, the blood of many -dogs, the blood of the hound of Fliethas—these I invoke. It is not a -wart to which my spittle is applied. I strike disease; I strike wounds. -I strike the disease of the dog that bites, of the thorn that wounds, -of the iron that strikes. I invoke the three daughters of Fliethas -against the serpent. Benediction on this body to be healed; benediction -on the spittle; benediction on him who casts out the disease. In the -name of God. AMEN.” - - -FOR A SORE BREAST. - - -To be said in Irish, while a piece of butter is rubbed over the breast— - - -“O Son, see how swelled is the breast of the woman! O, you that bore a -Son, look at it yourself! O Mary! O King of Heaven, let this woman be -healed! AMEN.” - - -FOR A WOUND. - - -Close the wound tightly with the two fingers, and repeat these words -slowly— - -“In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Mary. The wound was red, the -cut was deep, and the flesh was sore; but there will be no more blood, -and no more pain, till the blessed Virgin Mary bears a child again.” - - -FOR THE EVIL EYE. - - -This is a charm Mary gave to St. Bridget, and she wrote it down, and -hid it in the hair of her head, without deceit— - -“If a fairy, or a man, or a woman hath overlooked thee, there are three -greater in heaven who will cast all evil from thee into the great and -terrible sea. Pray to them, and to the seven angels of God, and they -will watch over thee. AMEN.” - - -FOR ST. ANTHONY’S FIRE. - - -“The fire of earth is hot, and the fire of hell is hotter; but the love -of Mary is above all. Who will quench the fire? Who will heal the sick? -May the fire of God consume the Evil One! AMEN.” - - -HOW TO GO INVISIBLE. - - -Get a raven’s heart, split it open with a black-hafted knife; make -three cuts and place a black bean in each cut. Then plant it, and when -the beans sprout put one in your mouth and say— - - “By virtue of Satan’s heart, - And by strength of my great art, - I desire to be invisible.” - -And so it will be as long as the bean is kept in the mouth. - - -FOR PAINS. - - -“I kill the evil; I kill the worm in the flesh, the worm in the grass. -I put a venomous charm in the murderous pain. The charm that was set -by Peter and Paul; the charm that kills the worm in the flesh, in the -tooth, in the body.” - -This oration to be said three times, while the patient is rubbed with -butter on the place of the pain. - - -_Another._ - -A happy mild charm, a charm which Christ discovered. The charm that -kills the worm in the flesh. - -“May Peter take, may Paul take, may Michael take, the pain away, the -cruel pain that kills the back and the life, and darkens the eyes.” - -This oration written, and tied to a hare’s foot, is always to be worn -by the person afflicted, hung round the neck. - - -FOR A SPRAIN. - - -In the Western Isles the following charm is used for a sprain— - -A strand of black wool is wound round and round the ankle, while the -operator recites in a low voice— - - “The Lord rade and the foal slade, - He lighted and He righted; - Set joint to joint and bone to bone, - And sinew unto sinew. - In the name of God and the Saints, - Of Mary and her Son, - Let this man be healed. AMEN.” - -A similar charm was used in Germany in the tenth century, according to -Jacob Grimm. - - -TO CAUSE LOVE. - - -Golden butter on a new-made dish, such as Mary set before Christ. This -to be given in the presence of a mill, of a stream, and the presence of -a tree; the lover saying softly— - -“O woman, loved by me, mayest thou give me thy heart, thy soul and -body. AMEN.” - - -FOR THE BITE OF A MAD DOG. - - -An oration which Colum-Cille set to a wound full of poison—“Arise, O -Carmac, O Clunane, through Christ be thou healed. By the hand of Christ -he thou healed in blood, in marrow, and in bone. AMEN.” - -This oration to be pronounced over a man or a woman, a horse or a cow, -but never over a hog or a dog. The wound to be rubbed with butter -during the oration. - - -FOR TOOTHACHE. - - -Go to a graveyard; kneel upon any grave; say three paters and three -aves for the soul of the dead lying beneath. Then take a handful of -grass from the grave, chew it well, casting forth each bite without -swallowing any portion. After this process the sufferer, were he to -live a hundred years, will never have toothache any more. - - -_Another._ - -The patient must vow a vow to God, the Virgin, and the new moon, never -to comb his hair on a Friday, in remembrance of relief should he be -cured; and whenever or wherever he first sees the moon he must fall -on his knees and say five prayers in gratitude for the cure, even if -crossing a river at the time. - - -_Another._ - -Carry in your pocket the two jaw-bones of a haddock; for ever since the -miracle of the loaves and fishes these bones are an infallible remedy -against toothache, and the older they are the better, as nearer the -time of the miracle. - -Also this charm is to be sewn on the clothes— - - “As Peter sat on a marble stone, - The Lord came to him all alone, - ‘Peter, Peter, what makes you shake?’ - ‘O Lord and Master, it is the toothache.’ - Then Christ said, ‘Take these for My sake, - And never more you’ll have toothache.’” - -To avoid toothache never shave on a Sunday. - - -FOR FRECKLES. - - -Anoint a freckled face with the blood of a bull, or of a hare, and it -will put away the freckles and make the skin fair and clear. Also the -distilled water of walnuts is good. - - -FOR A BURN. - - -There is a pretty secret to cure a burn without a scar: “Take sheep’s -suet and the rind of the elder-tree, boil both together, and the -ointment will cure a burn without leaving a mark.” - - -FOR THE MEMORY. - - -The whitest of frankincense beaten fine, and drunk in white wine, -wonderfully assisteth the memory, and is profitable for the stomach -also. - - -FOR THE FALLING SICKNESS. - - -Take a hank of grey yarn, a lock of the patient’s hair, some parings -of his nails, and bury them deep in the earth, repeating, in Irish, as -a burial service, “Let the great sickness lie there for ever. By the -power of Mary and the soul of Paul, let the great sickness lie buried -in the clay, and never more rise out of the ground. AMEN.” - -If the patient, on awaking from sleep, calls out the name of the person -who uttered these words, his recovery is certain. - -If a person crosses over the patient while he is in a fit, or stands -between him and the fire, then the sickness will cleave to him and -depart from the other that was afflicted. - - -FOR CHIN-COUGH. - - -A griddle cake made of meal, to be given, not bought or made; but a -cake _given_ of love or of charity, not for begging; a cake given -freely, with a prayer and a blessing; and from the breakfast of a man -and his wife who had the same name before marriage; this is the cure. - - * * * * * - -The touch of a piebald horse. Even a piebald horse pawing before the -door helps the cure. - - * * * * * - -The child to be passed seven times under and over an ass while a red -string is tied on the throat of the patient. - - * * * * * - -Nine hairs from the tail of a black cat, chopped up and soaked in -water, which is then swallowed, and the cough will be relieved. - -“One day when out snipe shooting,” a gentleman writes, “I saw a -horrid-looking insect staring up at me. I called to a man close by, -and asked him the name of it. He told me it was called the _Thordall_, -and was reckoned a great cure for the _chin-cough_; for if any one got -it safe in a bottle and kept it prisoner till it died, the disease -would go away from the patient. It was just the time to try the cure, -for my child was laid up with the epidemic. So I bottled my friend and -daily examined the state of his health. It lasted for a fortnight, -and at the end of that time the child had quite recovered, and the -horrible-looking insect creature lay dead.” - - -FOR RHEUMATISM. - - -The operator makes passes, like the mesmerist, over the member affected -by the rheumatic pain, never touching the part, but moving his hand -slowly over it at some distance, while he mutters a form of words in a -low voice. - - -FOR A STYE ON THE EYELID. - - -Point a gooseberry thorn at it nine times, saying, “Away, away, away!” -and the stye will vanish presently and disappear. - - -TO CURE WARTS. - - -On meeting a funeral, take some of the clay from under the feet of the -men who bear the coffin and apply it to the wart, wishing strongly at -the same time that it may disappear; and so it will be. - - -FOR A STITCH IN THE SIDE. - - -Rub the part affected with unsalted butter, and make the sign of the -cross seven times over the place. - - -FOR WEAK EYES. - - -A decoction of the flowers of daisies boiled down is an excellent wash, -to be used constantly. - - -FOR WATER ON THE BRAIN. - - -Cover the head well with wool, then place oil-skin over, and the water -will be drawn up out of the head. When the wool is quite saturated the -brain will be free and the child cured. - - -FOR HIP DISEASE. - - -Take three green stones, gathered from a running brook, between -midnight and morning, while no word is said. In silence it must be -done. Then uncover the limb and rub each stone several times closely -downwards from the hip to the toe, saying in Irish— - - “Wear away, wear away, - There you shall not stay, - Cruel pain—away, away.” - - -FOR THE MUMPS. - - -Wrap the child in a blanket, take it to the pigsty, rub the child’s -head to the back of a pig, and the mumps will leave it and pass from -the child to the animal. - - -_Another._ - -Take nine black stones gathered before sunrise, and bring the patient -with a rope round his neck to a holy well—not speaking all the while. -Then cast in three stones in the name of God, three in the name of -Christ, and three in the name of Mary. Repeat this process for three -mornings and the disease will be cured. - - -FOR EPILEPSY. - - -Take nine pieces of young elder twig; run a thread of silk of three -strands through the pieces, each piece being an inch long. Tie this -round the patient’s neck next the skin. Should the thread break and the -amulet fall, it must be buried deep in the earth and another amulet -made like the first, for if once it touches the ground the charm is -lost. - - -_Another._ - -Take nine pieces of a dead man’s skull, grind them to powder, and then -mix with a decoction of wall rue. Give the patient a spoonful of this -mixture every morning fasting, till the whole potion is swallowed. None -must be left, or the dead man would come to look for the pieces of his -skull. - - -FOR DEPRESSION OF HEART. - - -When a person becomes low and depressed and careless about everything, -as if all vital strength and energy had gone, he is said to have got a -fairy blast. And blast-water must be poured over him by the hands of a -fairy doctor while saying, “In the name of the saint with the sword, -who has strength before God and stands at His right hand.” Great care -being taken that no portion of the water is profaned. Whatever is left -after the operation, must be poured on the fire. - - -FOR THE FAIRY DART. - - -Fairy darts are generally aimed at the fingers, causing the joints to -swell and grow red and inflamed. An eminent fairy-woman made the cure -of fairy darts her speciality, and she was sent for by all the country -round, and was generally successful. But she had no power unless -_asked_ to make the cure, and she took no reward at the time; not till -the patient was cured, and the dart extracted. The treatment included -a great many prayers and much anointing with a salve, of which she -only had the secret. Then she proceeded to extract the dart with great -solemnity, working with a small instrument, on the point of which she -finally produced the dart. This proved to be a bit of flax artfully -laid under the skin by the malicious fairies, causing all the evil, -and of course on seeing the flax no one could doubt the power of the -operator, and the grateful patient paid his fee. - - -VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS AND CURES. - - -There is a book, a little book, and the house which has it will never -be burned; the ship that holds it will never founder; the woman who -keeps it in her hand will be safe in childbirth. But none except a -fairy man knows the name of the book, and he will not reveal it for -love or money; only on his death-bed will he tell the secret of the -name to the one person he selects. - -The adepts and fairy doctors keep their mysteries very secret, and it -is not easy to discover the word of a charm, for the operator loses -his power if the words are said without the proper preliminaries, or -if said by a profane person without faith, for the operator should not -have uttered the mystery in the hearing of one who would mock, or treat -the matter lightly; therefore he is punished. - -Some years ago an old man lived in Mayo who had great knowledge of -charms, and of certain love philtres that no woman could resist. But -before his death he enclosed the written charms in a strong iron box, -with directions that no one was to dare to open it except the eldest -son of an eldest son in a direct line from himself. - -Some people pretend that they have read the charms; and one of them has -the strange power to make every one in the house begin to dance, and -they can never cease dancing till another spell has been said over them. - -But the guardian of the iron box is the only one who knows the magic -secret of the spell, and he exacts a good price before he utters it, -and so reveals or destroys the witchcraft of the dance. - - * * * * * - -The juice of deadly night-shade distilled, and given in a drink, will -make the person who drinks believe whatever you will to tell him, and -choose him to believe. - - * * * * * - -A bunch of mint tied round the wrist is a sure remedy for disorders of -the stomach. - - * * * * * - -A sick person’s bed must be placed north and south, not cross ways. - - * * * * * - -Nettles gathered in a churchyard and boiled down for a drink have the -power to cure dropsy. - - * * * * * - -The touch from the hand of a seventh son cures the bite of a mad dog. -This is also an Italian superstition. - - * * * * * - -The hand of a dead man was a powerful incantation, but it was chiefly -used by women. The most eminent fairy women always collected the mystic -herbs for charms and cures by the light of a candle held by a dead -man’s hand at midnight or by the full moon. - - * * * * * - -When a woman first takes ill in her confinement, unlock instantly every -press and drawer in the house, but when the child is born, lock them -all up again at once, for if care is not taken the fairies will get -in and hide in the drawers and presses, to be ready to steal away the -little mortal baby when they get the opportunity, and place some ugly, -wizened changeling in the cradle beside the poor mother. Therefore -every key should be turned, every lock made fast; and if the fairies -are hidden inside, let them stay there until all danger is over for -the baby by the proper precautions being taken, such as a red coal set -under the cradle, and a branch of mountain ash tied over it, or of the -alder-tree, according to the sex of the child, for both trees have -mystic virtues, probably because of the ancient superstition that the -first man was created from an alder-tree, and the first woman from the -mountain ash. - -The fairies, however, are sometimes successful in carrying off a baby, -and the mother finds in the morning a poor weakly little sprite in the -cradle in place of her own splendid child. But should the mortal infant -happen to grow up ugly, the fairies send it back, for they love beauty -above all things; and the fairy chiefs greatly desire a handsome mortal -wife, so that a handsome girl must be well guarded, or they will carry -her off. The children of such unions grow up beautiful and clever, but -are also wild, reckless and extravagant. They are known at once by the -beauty of their eyes and hair, and they have a magic fascination that -no one can resist, and also a fairy gift of music and song. - - * * * * * - -If a person is bitten by a dog, the dog must be killed, whether mad or -not, for it might become mad; then, so also would the person who had -been touched by the saliva of the animal. - - * * * * * - -If, by accident, you find the back tooth of a horse, carry it about -with you as long as you live, and you will never want money; but it -must be found by chance. - - * * * * * - -When a family has been carried off by fever, the house where they died -may be again inhabited with safety if a certain number of sheep are -driven in to sleep there for three nights. - - * * * * * - -An iron ring worn on the fourth finger was considered effective against -rheumatism by the Irish peasantry from ancient times. - - * * * * * - -Paralysis is cured by stroking, but many forms and mystic incantations -are also used during the process; and only certain persons have the -power in the hands that can effect a cure by the magic of the stroke. - - * * * * * - -The seed of docks tied to the left arm of a woman will prevent her -being barren. - - * * * * * - -A spoonful of _aqua vitæ_ sweetened with sugar, and a little grated -bread added, that it may not annoy the brain or the liver, will -preserve from lethargy and apoplexy and all cold diseases. - - * * * * * - -The juice of carrots boiled down is admirable for purifying the blood. - - * * * * * - -Clippings of the hair and nails of a child tied up in a linen cloth and -placed under the cradle will cure convulsions. - - * * * * * - -_Tober Maire_ (Mary’s well), near Dundalk, has a great reputation for -cures. And thousands used to visit it on Lady Day for weak eyesight, -and the lowness of heart. Nine times they must go round the well on -their knees, always westward. Then drink a cup of the water, and not -only are they cured of their ailment, but are as free from sin as the -angels in heaven. - - * * * * * - -When children are pining away, they are supposed to be fairy-struck; -and the juice of twelve leaves of foxglove may be given: also in cases -of fever the same. - - * * * * * - -A bunch of mint tied round the wrist keeps off infection and disease. - - * * * * * - -There is a well near the Boyne where King James washed his sword after -the battle, and ever since the water has power to cure the king’s evil. - - * * * * * - -When a seventh son is born, if an earth-worm is put into the infant’s -hand and kept there till it dies, the child will have power to charm -away all diseases. - - * * * * * - -The ancient arrowheads, called elf-stones by the people, are used as -charms to guard the cattle. - - * * * * * - -It is not safe to take an unbaptized child in your arms without making -the sign of the cross over it. - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky to give a coal of fire out of the house before the -child is baptized. And a piece of iron should be sewn in the infant’s -clothes, and kept there till after the baptism. - - * * * * * - -Take a piece of bride-cake and pass it three times through a -wedding-ring, then sleep on it, and you will see in a dream the face of -your future spouse. - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky to accept a lock of hair, or a four-footed beast from a -lover. - - * * * * * - -People ought to remember that egg-shells are favourite retreats of the -fairies, therefore the judicious eater should always break the shell -after use, to prevent the fairy sprite from taking up his lodgment -therein. - - * * * * * - -Finvarra, the king of the fairies of the west, keeps up the most -friendly relations with most of the best families of Galway, especially -with the Kirwans of Castle Hacket, for Finvarra is a gentleman, every -inch of him, and the Kirwans always leave out kegs of wine for him at -night of the best Spanish wine. And in return, it is said, the wine -vaults at Castle Hacket are never empty, though the wine flows freely -for all comers. - - * * * * * - -If a living worm is put into the hand of a child before he is baptized, -and kept there till the worm is dead, that child will have power in -after life to cure all diseases to which children are subject. - - * * * * * - -After being cured from a sickness, take an oath never to comb the hair -on a Friday, that so the memory of the grace received may remain by -this sign till your death. Or whenever you first see the new moon, -kneel down and say an ave and a pater; this also is for memory of grace -done. - - * * * * * - -People born in the morning cannot see spirits or the fairy world; but -those born at night have power over ghosts, and can see the spirits of -the dead. - - * * * * * - -Unbaptized children are readily seized by the fairies. The best -preventive is a little salt tied up in the child’s dress when it is -laid to sleep in the cradle. - - * * * * * - -If pursued at night by an evil spirit, or the ghost of one dead, and -you hear footsteps behind you, try and reach a stream of running water, -for if you can cross it, no devil or ghost will be able to follow you. - - * * * * * - -If a chair fall as a person rises, it is an unlucky omen. - - * * * * * - -The fortunate possessor of the four-leaved shamrock will have luck in -gambling, luck in racing, and witchcraft will have no power over him. -But he must always carry it about his person, and never give it away, -or even show it to another. - - * * * * * - -A purse made from a weasel’s skin will never want for money; but the -purse must be found, not given or made. - - * * * * * - -If a man is ploughing, no one should cross the path of the horses. - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky to steal a plough, or take anything by stealth from a -smith’s forge. - - * * * * * - -When yawning make the sign of the cross instantly over the mouth, or -the evil spirit will make a rush down and take up his abode within you. - - * * * * * - -Never give away water before breakfast, nor milk while churning is -going on. - - * * * * * - -A married woman should not walk upon graves, or her child will have -a club-foot. If by accident she treads on a grave she must instantly -kneel down, say a prayer, and make the sign of the cross on the sole of -her shoe three times over. - - * * * * * - -Never take an infant in your arms, nor turn your head to look at it -without saying, “God bless it.” This keeps away the fatal influence of -the Evil Eye. - - * * * * * - -If a bride steers a boat on the day of her marriage, the winds and -the waves have no power over it, be the tempest ever so fierce or the -stream ever so rapid. - - * * * * * - -Do not put out a light while people are at supper, or there will be one -less at the table before the year is out. - - * * * * * - -Never give any salt or fire while churning is going on. To upset the -salt is exceedingly unlucky and a bad omen; to avert evil gather up the -salt and fling it over the right shoulder into the fire, with the left -hand. - - * * * * * - -If you want a person to win at cards, stick a crooked pin in his coat. - - * * * * * - -The seventh son of a seventh son has power over all diseases, and can -cure them by laying on of hands; and a son born after his father’s -death has power over fevers. - - * * * * * - -There is one hour in every day when whatever you wish will be granted, -but no one knows what that hour is. It is all a chance if we come -on it. There is also one hour in the day when ghost-seers can see -spirits—but only one—at no other time have they the power, yet they -never know the hour, the coming of it is a mystery. - - * * * * * - -In some parts of Ireland the people, it is said, on first seeing the -new moon, fall on their knees and address her in a loud voice with the -prayer: “O moon; leave us well as thou hast found us!” - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky to meet a cat, a dog, or a woman, when going out first -in the morning; but unlucky above all is it to meet a woman with red -hair the first thing in the morning when going on a journey, for her -presence brings ill-luck and certain evil. - - * * * * * - -It is unlucky to pass under a hempen rope; the person who does so will -die a violent death, or is fated to commit an evil act in after life, -so it is decreed. - - * * * * * - -The cuttings of your hair should not be thrown where birds can find -them; for they will take them to build their nests, and then you will -have headaches all the year after. - - * * * * * - -The cause of a club-foot is this—The mother stood on a cross in a -churchyard before her child was born—so evil came. - - * * * * * - -To cure fever, place the patient on the sandy shore when the tide is -coming in, and the retreating waves will carry away the disease and -leave him well. - - * * * * * - -To make the skin beautiful, wash the face in May dew upon May morning -just at sunrise. - - * * * * * - -If the palm of the hand itches you will be getting money; if the elbow, -you will be changing beds; if the ear itches and is red and hot, some -one is speaking ill of you. - - * * * * * - -If three drops of water are given to an infant before it is baptized, -it will answer the first three questions put to it. - - * * * * * - -To know the name of the person you are destined to marry, put a snail -on a plate of flour—cover it over and leave it all night; in the -morning the initial letter of the name will be found traced on the -flour by the snail. - - * * * * * - -If one desires to know if a sick person will recover, take nine smooth -stones from the running water; fling them over the right shoulder, -then lay them in a turf fire to remain untouched for one night. If the -disease is to end fatally the stones in the morning will emit a clear -sound like a bell when struck together. - - * * * * * - -A whitethorn stick is a very unlucky companion on a journey; but a -hazel switch brings good luck and has power over the devil. - - * * * * * - -A hen that crows is very unlucky and should be killed; very often the -hen is stoned, for it is believed that she is bewitched by the fairies. - - * * * * * - -It is asserted that on Christmas morning the ass kneels down in -adoration of Christ, and if a person can manage to touch the cross on -the back of the animal at that particular moment the wish of his heart -will be granted, whatever it may be. - - * * * * * - -When taking possession of a new house, every one should bring in some -present, however trifling, but nothing should be taken away, and a -prayer should be said in each corner of your bedroom, and some article -of your clothing be deposited there at the same time. - - -TO FIND STOLEN GOODS. - - -Place two keys on a sieve, in the form of a cross. Two men hold the -sieve, while a third makes the sign of the cross on the forehead of the -suspected party, and calls out his name loudly, three times over. If -innocent, the keys remain stationary; but if guilty, the keys revolve -slowly round the sieve, and then there is no doubt as to who is the -thief. - - -A PRAYER AGAINST THE PLAGUE. - - -“O Star of Heaven, beloved of the Lord, drive away the foul -constellation that has slain the people with the wound of dreadful -death. O Star of the Sea, save us from the poison-breath that kills, -from the enemy that slays in the night. AMEN.” - - -A BLESSING. - - -“O aged old woman of the grey locks, may eight hundred blessings twelve -times over be on thee! Mayest thou be free from desolation, O woman of -the aged frame! And may many tears fall on thy grave.” - - -A CURE FOR CATTLE. - - - -Take nine leaves of the male crowfoot, plucked on a Sunday night; -bruise them on a stone that never was moved since the world began, and -never can be moved. Mix with salt and spittle, and apply the plaster to -the ear of the sick beast. Repeat this three times for a man, and twice -for a horse. - - -A CHARM FOR SAFETY. - -Pluck ten blades of yarrow, keep nine, and cast the tenth away for -tithe to the spirits. Put the nine in your stocking, under the heel of -the right foot, when going a journey, and the Evil One will have no -power over you. - - -AN ELIXIR OF POTENCY. -(FROM A MANUSCRIPT OF DATE 1770.) - - -Two ounces of cochineal, one ounce of gentian root, two drachms of -saffron, two drachms of snakeroot, two drachms of salt of wormwood, and -the rind of ten oranges. The whole to be steeped in a quart of brandy, -and kept for use. - - -FOR THE BITE OF A MAD DOG. - - -Six ounces of rue, four ounces of garlic, two ounces of Venice treacle, -and two ounces of pewter filings. Boil for two hours in a close vessel, -in two quarts of ale, and give a spoonful fasting each morning till the -cure is effected. The liquor is to be strained before use. - - -DREAMS. - - -Never tell your dreams fasting, and always tell them first to a woman -called Mary. - - * * * * * - -To dream of a hearse with white plumes is a wedding; but to dream of a -wedding is grief, and death will follow. - - * * * * * - -To dream of a woman kissing you is deceit; but of a man, friendship; -and to dream of a horse is exceedingly lucky. - - * * * * * - -To dream of a priest is bad; even to dream of the devil is better. -Remember, also, either a present or a purchase from a priest is -unlucky. - - -FAIRY DOCTORS. - - -The fairy doctors are generally females. Old women, especially, are -considered to have peculiar mystic and supernatural power. They cure -chiefly by charms and incantations, transmitted by tradition through -many generations; and by herbs, of which they have a surprising -knowledge. - -The fairies have an aversion to the sight of blood; and the peasants, -therefore, have a great objection to being bled, lest “the good people” -would be angry. Besides, they have much more faith in charms and -incantations than in any dispensary doctor that ever practised amongst -them. - - -CHARMS BY CRYSTALS. - - -The charms by crystals are of great antiquity in Ireland—a mode of -divination, no doubt, brought from the East by the early wandering -tribes. Many of these stones have been found throughout the country, -and are held in great veneration. They are generally globular, and -appear to have been originally set in royal sceptres or sacred shrines. -A very ancient crystal globe of this kind, with miraculous curative -powers, is still to be seen at Currahmore, the seat of the Marquis of -Waterford, and it is believed to have been brought from the Holy Land -by one of the Le Poers, who had it as a gift from Godfrey de Bouillon. -The ball is of rock crystal, a little larger than an orange, and is -circled round the middle by a silver band. It is still constantly -borrowed by the people to effect cures upon cattle suffering from -murrain or other distempers. This is done by placing the ball in a -running stream, through which the cattle are driven backwards and -forwards many times. - -The peasants affirm that the charm never fails in success, and the -belief in its miraculous powers is so widespread that people from the -most distant parts of Ireland send to Currahmore to borrow it. Even to -this day the faith in its magic power continues unabated, and requests -for the loan come from every quarter. The Marquis of Waterford leaves -it in the care of his steward, and it is freely lent to all comers; but -to the credit of the people it may be noted, that the magic crystal is -always brought back to Currahmore with the most scrupulous care.[9] - - [9] Extract from a letter by the Marchioness of Waterford, on the - Currahmore Crystal. - - -ALECTROMANTIA. - - -Should a person be bewitched by an evil neighbour, he must take two -black cocks, lay a charm over the head of one and let it loose; but the -other must be boiled down, feathers and all, and eaten. Then the malice -of the neighbour will have no effect on him or his. - -Ancient Egypt and Greece had likewise superstitions on the subject of -sacrificing a cock. Even the last words of Socrates had reference to -this subject. It is remarkable also that in the Christian legend it -was a cock that testified indignantly by his crowing against Peter’s -treachery and cowardice, and aroused in him the remorse that was -evidenced by his tears. - - -FAIRY POWER. - - -It is on Fridays that the fairies have the most power to work evil; -therefore Friday is an unlucky day to begin work, or to go on a -journey, or to have a wedding; for the spirits are then present -everywhere, and hear and see everything that is going on, and will mar -and spoil all they can, just out of malice and jealousy of the mortal -race. - -It is then they strike cattle with their elfin arrows, lame a horse, -steal the milk, and carry off the handsome children, leaving an ugly -changeling in exchange, who is soon known to be a fairy sprite by its -voracious appetite, without any natural increase in growth. - -This superstition makes the peasant-women often very cruel towards -weakly children; and the trial by fire is sometimes resorted to in -order to test the nature of the child who is suspected of being a -changeling. For this purpose a fairy woman is usually sent for, who -makes a drink for the little patient of certain herbs of whose power -she alone has the secret knowledge; and a childless woman is considered -the best to make the potion. Should there be no improvement in the -child after the treatment with herbs, then the witch-women sometimes -resort to terrible measures to test the fairy nature of the sufferer. - -A child who was suspected of being a changeling, because he was -wasted and thin and always restless and fretful, was ordered by the -witch-woman to be placed for three nights on a shovel outside the door -from sunset to sunrise, during which time he was given foxglove to -chew, and cold water was flung over him to banish the fire-devil. The -screams of the child at night were frightful, calling on his mother -to come and take him in; but the fairy doctor told the mother not to -fear; the fairies were certainly tormenting him, but by the third -night their power would cease, and the child would be quite restored. -However, on the third night the poor little child lay dead. - - -OMENS AND SUPERSTITIONS. - - -Auguries and prophecies of coming fate may also be obtained from the -flight of birds, the motion of the winds, from sneezing, dreams, lots, -and the signs from a verse of the Psalter or Gospels. The peasantry -attach great importance to the first verses of St. John’s Gospel, and -maintain that when the cock crows in the morning he is repeating these -verses (from the 1st to the 14th), and if we understood the language of -animals and birds, we could often hear them quoting these same verses. - - * * * * * - -A charm against sickness is an amulet worn round the neck, enclosing -a piece of paper, on which is written the first three verses of St. -John’s Gospel. - - -OMENS THAT FORBODE EVIL. - - -To stick a penknife in the mast of a boat when sailing is most unlucky. - -To meet a man with red hair, or a woman with a red petticoat, the first -thing in the morning. - -To kill the robin redbreast. - -To pass a churn and not give a helping hand. - -To meet a funeral and not go back three steps with it. - -To have a hare cross your path before sunrise. - -To take away a lighted sod on May days or churning days; for fire is -the most sacred of all things, and you take away the blessing from the -house along with it. - - * * * * * - -The Irish are very susceptible to omens. They say, “Beware of a -childless woman who looks fixedly at your child.” - - * * * * * - -Fire is the holiest of all things. Walk three times round a fire on St. -John’s Eve, and you will be safe from disease for all that year. - - * * * * * - -It is particularly unlucky to meet a red-haired man the first thing in -the morning. There is a tradition that Judas Iscariot had red hair, -and it is from this the superstitious dread of the evil interference of -a red-haired man may have originated. - - * * * * * - -Never begin work on a Friday. - -Never remove from a house or leave a situation on Saturday. - -Never begin to make a dress on Saturday, or the wearer will die within -the year. - -Never mend a rent in a dress while on, or evil and malicious reports -will be spread about you. - - * * * * * - -Some days are unlucky to certain families—as Tuesday to the Tudors. -Henry VIII., Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth all died upon a Tuesday. - - * * * * * - -To throw a slipper after a party going a journey is lucky. Also to -breakfast by candle-light on Christmas morning. - - * * * * * - -It is fatal at a marriage to tie a knot in a red handkerchief, and only -an enemy would do it. To break the spell the handkerchief should be -burned. - - * * * * * - -The first days of the year and of the week are the luckiest. Never -begin a journey on a Friday or Saturday, nor move from your residence, -nor change a situation. Never cut out a dress or begin to make it on a -Friday, nor fix a marriage, for of all days the fairies have the most -malific power on a Friday. They are present then, and hear all that is -said, therefore beware of speaking ill of them, for they will work some -evil if offended. - - * * * * * - -Never pay away money on the first Monday of the year, or you will lose -your luck in gaining money all the year after. - - * * * * * - -Presents may be given on New Year’s Day, but no money should be paid -away. - - * * * * * - -Those who marry in autumn will die in spring. - - * * * * * - -The yew-tree, the ash, and the elder-tree were sacred. The willow has -a mystery in it of sound. The harp of King Brian-Boru was made of -willow-wood. - - * * * * * - -When a servant leaves her place, if her mistress gives her a piece of -bread let her put by some of it carefully, for as long as she has it -good luck will follow her. - - -TO ATTRACT BEES. - - -Gather foxglove, raspberry leaves, wild marjorum, mint, camomile, and -valerian; mix them with butter made on May Day, and let the herbs also -be gathered on May Day. Boil them all together with honey; then rub the -vessel into which the bees should gather, both inside and out, with -the mixture; place it in the middle of a tree, and the bees will soon -come. Foxglove or “fairy fingers” is called “the great herb” from its -wondrous properties. - - -SUPERSTITIONS OF THE ISLANDS. - - -CONCERNING THE DEAD. - - -It is ill luck when going with a funeral to meet a man on a white -horse. No matter how high the rank of the rider may be, the people must -seize the reins and force him to turn back and join the procession at -least for a few yards. - - * * * * * - -The three most powerful divinations are by fire, by water, and by clay. -These are the three great powers—the power that ascends, which is fire; -the power that falls, which is water; and the power that lies level on -the earth, and has the mystery of the dead, which is clay. - - * * * * * - -If a short cut should be taken while carrying a corpse to the grave the -dead will be disturbed in the coffin, for it is a slight and an insult -to the corpse. - - * * * * * - -When a death was expected it was usual to have a good deal of bread -ready baked in the house in order that the evil spirits might be -employed eating it, and so let the soul of the dying depart in peace. -Twelve candles stuck in clay should also be placed round the dying. - - * * * * * - -If two funerals meet at the same churchyard, the last corpse that -enters will have to supply the dead with water till the next corpse -arrives. - - * * * * * - -Never take a child in your arms after being at a wake where a corpse -was laid out unless you first dip your hands in holy water. - - * * * * * - -The moment the soul leaves the body the evil spirits try to seize it, -but the guardian angel fights against them, and those around must pray -earnestly that the angel may conquer. After death the body must not be -disturbed, nor should the funeral chant be raised for one hour. - - * * * * * - -There are many superstitions prevalent in the Western Islands which -are implicitly believed and acted on. Fishermen when going to sea must -always enter the boat by the right side, no matter how inconvenient. - - * * * * * - -A coal of fire thrown after the fisherman brings him good fortune. - - * * * * * - -A sick person must not be visited on a Friday, nor by any person who -has just quitted a wake and looked upon the dead. The hair and nails of -a sick person must not be cut till after recovery. - - * * * * * - -If a corpse falls to the ground the most fatal events will happen to -the family. - - * * * * * - -The lid must not be nailed on the coffin of a new-born child, or the -mother that bore it will never have another. - - -THE COASTGUARD’S FATE. - - -One day a coastguard man was out in his boat with some of the islanders -when a terrible storm arose with thunder and lightning. The poor people -fell on their knees and prayed devoutly, but the man laughed at them, -called them fools and cowards, and said he also could make lightning -and thunder as well as the God they were praying to. So he immediately -prepared a small cannon he had on board, and set a match to the powder -and fired it off. But before the echo died away a stream of lightning -passed over him, and he fell dead in the boat a blackened corpse—a -dreadful sign of the vengeance of heaven on his blasphemous daring. - - -RELICS. - - -If a false oath is taken upon a relic the vengeance of God falls upon -the swearer, and the doom that few can bear and live rests upon him -and upon all his descendants even to the seventh generation. They are -shunned by the people, and looked upon as unlucky and accursed. There -are some living even now from whom the curse of the past is not lifted, -because the seventh generation has not yet passed by. - - - - - LEGENDS OF THE SAINTS. - - -ST. PATRICK. - - -Many saints in old time used to come and take up their abode in the -wild desolate Western Islands for the rest and sanctity of solitude, -and innumerable evidences of their presence still remain in the ancient -ruins of the so-called cells or churches built in the rudest form, but -always placed in a picturesque locality beside a well, which ever since -has been held sacred, and no woman is allowed to wash her feet in the -water. - -In one of these islands is a stone bed called “The Bed of the Holy -Ghost,” and many people go from the mainland to lie a night in this -bed, though the sea is always rough and dangerous, believing that it -heals all diseases, and it brings good luck to all, and to women the -blessing of children. - -If the lark sings on St. Bridget’s Day it is a good omen, and a sign -of fine weather. And whoever hears it the first thing in the morning -will have good luck in all he does for that whole day. St. Bridget was -granted by the Lord to have every second Sunday fine so that she might -preach to the converts that came to her. - -Then St. Patrick greatly desired that his day should also be fine so -that the people might gather together in remembrance of him, and this -also was granted. So from that time forth the Saints’ Day, the 17th of -March, is always fine, for so it was decreed from the ancient times -when he was upon earth. - -On St. Patrick’s Day it is the usage in the islands to affix large -crosses made of straw and flowers on the door-posts, and a black cock -is sacrificed in honour of the saint, though no one can tell why it -is considered necessary that blood should be spilt, except that the -idea of sacrifice is found in all religions and rituals of worship. At -first the object most loved or most prized was sacrificed—a child, or -a costly jewel. Then the human sacrifice began to be replaced by the -offering of an animal, who was made the medium of expiation. And the -god was satisfied so that blood was spilled to purify from sin. - -It is remarkable that relics of this ancient ritual of sacrifice can -still be found even in the enlightened households of this advanced -nineteenth century. An ox is still slaughtered at Christmas, though -Baal is forgotten; and a lamb is sacrificed at Easter, as the Druids -offered the firstlings of the flock to the Sun-god; while a goose is -slain on St. Michael’s Day as a burnt-offering to the saint. - - -THE WELL OF THE BOOK. - - -When St. Patrick was one time amongst the Pagan Irish they grew very -fierce and seemed eager to kill him. Then his life being in great -danger, he kneeled down before them and prayed to God for help and for -the conversion of their souls. And the fervour of the prayer was so -great that as the saint rose up the mark of his knees was left deep in -the stone, and when the people saw the miracle they believed. - -Now when he came to the next village the people said if he performed -some wonder for them they also would believe and pray to his God. So -St. Patrick drew a great circle on the ground and bade them stand -outside it; and then he prayed, and lo! the water rushed up from the -earth, and a well pure and bright as crystal filled the circle. And the -people believed and were baptized. - -The well can be seen to this day, and is called _Tober-na-Lauer_ (The -Well of the Book), because St. Patrick placed his own prayer-book in -the centre of the circle before the water rose. - - -ST. PATRICK AND THE SERPENT. - - -There is a lake in one of the Galtee mountains where there is a great -serpent chained to a rock, and he may be heard constantly crying out, -“O Patrick, is the _Luan_, or Monday, long from us?” For when St. -Patrick cast this serpent into the lake he bade him be chained to the -rock till _La-an-Luan_ (The Day of Judgment). But the serpent mistook -the word, and thought the saint meant _Luan_, Monday. - -So he still expects to be freed from one Monday to another, and the -clanking of his chains on that day is awful to hear as he strives to -break them and get free. - -In another lake there is a huge-winged creature, it is said, which -escaped the power of St. Patrick, and when he gambols in the water such -storms arise that no boat can withstand the tumult of the waves. - - -ST. PATRICK AND THE PRINCESSES. - - -One day the two daughters of the King of Meath, named Ethna and -Fedalma, went down to the river to bathe, and there they beheld St. -Patrick and his band of converts all draped in white robes, for they -were celebrating morning prayers. And the princesses seeing strange men -in white garments thought they were of the race of the male fairies, -the _Daine-Sidhe_. And they questioned them. Then St. Patrick expounded -the truth to them, and the maidens asked him many questions: “Who is -your God? Is He Handsome? Are His daughters as handsome as we are? Is -He rich? Is He young or aged? Is He to die, or does He live for ever?” - -Now St. Patrick having satisfied them on all these points the maidens, -Ethna and Fedalma, were baptized, and became zealous workers for the -Christian cause. - - -THE POISON CUP. - - -St. Patrick went on to Tara, and there he lit the Paschal fire and -celebrated the Easter mysteries. But the Druids were wroth, for it was -against their ordinances for any fire to be lit until the chief Druid -himself had kindled the sacred fire. Therefore they sought to poison -St. Patrick, and a cupful of poison was given him by one of the Druids; -but the danger was revealed to him, and thereupon he pronounced certain -words over the liquor, and whoever pronounceth these words over poison -shall receive no injury from it. He also then composed the prayer, “In -nomine Dei Patris,” and recited it over the cup of poison. - - * * * * * - -The number of companions with whom St. Patrick travelled through the -country was seven score and ten, and before his time only three classes -of persons were allowed to speak in public in Erin—the chronicler, to -relate events; the poet, to eulogize and satirize; and the Brehon, to -pass judgment according to the law. But after St. Patrick’s arrival -every utterance of the three professions was subject to “the men of -the white language”—that is, the Gospel—and only such utterances were -allowed as did not clash with the Gospel. - - -DIVINATION. - - -In ancient Pagan times in Ireland the poets were supposed to possess -the gift of prophecy, and by certain means could throw themselves into -a state in which they had lucid vision of coming events. This state, -called _Imbas for Osna_, was produced by incantations and the offering -of the flesh of a red pig, a dog, or a cat to their idols. Then the -poet, laying the two palms of his hands on his two cheeks, lay down -and slept; his idol gods being beside him. And when he awoke he could -see all things and foretell all things. He could make verses with the -ends of his fingers, and repeat the same without studying, and in this -way proved his right to be chief poet at the court of the king. Also -he laid his staff upon the head of a person, and thus he found out his -name, and the name of his father and mother, and all unknown things -that were proposed to him. And this prophetic power was also obtained -by _Imbas for Osna_, though a different kind of offering was made to -the idol. - -But Patrick abolished these practices, and declared that whoever used -them should enjoy neither heaven nor earth; and he substituted for -them the _Corus Cerda_ (the Law of Poetry), in which no offering was -made to demons; for the profession of the poet, he said, was pure, and -should not be subject to the power of the devil. He left to the poets, -however, the gift of extemporaneous recital, because it was acquired -through great knowledge and diligent study, but all other rites he -strictly forbade to the poets of Erin. - - -THE BLIND POET. - - -As a proof of the magnetic, lucid vision obtained by the great ollamhs -of poetry, it is recorded of the blind poet, Louad Dall, that his -attendants having brought him the skull of an animal found upon the -strand, they asked him to declare its history. And thereupon placing -the end of his wand upon the skull, he beheld with the inner vision, -and said— - -“The tempestuous waters have destroyed Breccan, and this is the skull -of his lapdog; and but little of greatness now remains, for Breccan and -his people have perished in the waves.” - -And this was “divination by the staff”—a power possessed only by the -chief poets, and by none else. - - -THE STORY OF BRECCAN. - - -The story of Breccan is related in Cormac’s Glossary. He was a merchant -who traded between Ireland and Scotland with fifty corracles. Now there -was a great whirlpool at Rathlin Island caused by the meeting of the -seas, and they formed a caldron vast enough to swallow all Ireland. And -it happened on a time that Breccan and all his corracles were lost and -engulfed in this caldron. Not a man was left to tell the tale of how or -where they had perished. Thus it was that the skull of a small animal -being discovered on the beach, it was brought to the blind poet, who -laying his staff on it obtained the inner vision by which he revealed -the fate of Breccan and his fifty corracles. - - -BARDIC PRIVILEGES. - - -Now St. Patrick left the poets all their rights of divination by -wisdom, and all their ancient rights over story-telling with the music -of the harp, three hundred and fifty stories being allowed to the chief -poet. He also secured just judgments for their professional rights; so -that if land was mentioned in their songs as having been walled and -trenched by them, that was considered to be sufficient legal evidence -of title to the soil. - -But what they received of St. Patrick was better, he affirmed, than -all the evil rites to devils which they had abandoned; along with the -profane practice of magic by the two palms, called _Imbas for Osna_, by -which lucid vision and the spirit of prophecy was supposed to come on -them after invocations to idols and demons—all of which evil practices -St. Patrick abolished, but left to the poets the skilled hand in music -and the fluent tongue in recitation; for which none can equal the Bards -of Ireland throughout all the world. - - * * * * * - -The ogham writing on the poet’s staff is mentioned in very old -manuscripts as in use in the Pagan period, before St. Patrick’s time, -though no specimen of ogham writing has yet been found of earlier date -than the Christian era. - -St. Patrick introduced Latin and the Latin letters, which superseded -ogham. And after his time Latin was taught very generally in the Irish -schools. - -St. Patrick also confirmed as right and proper for observance, whatever -was just in the Brehon laws, so as it was not at variance with the law -of Christ, for the people had been guided by the Brehon laws from all -antiquity, and it was not easy to overthrow them. Besides, many or most -of them were framed with strict regard to justice and morality. - -When St. Patrick was dying, an angel of the Lord was sent to him, -who announced to the great and holy saint that God had granted this -favour to his prayers—namely, that his jurisdiction over the Church was -ordained to be for ever at Armagh; and that Patrick, as the Apostle of -Ireland, should be the judge of all the Irish at the last day, and none -other, according to the promise made to the other apostles, “Ye shall -sit upon twelve thrones judging the tribes of Israel.” - - -ST. CIARON. - - -This eminent saint died at the early age of thirty-three; and it is -said that his death was caused by the prayers of the other saints of -Ireland, who were jealous of his power and fame for sanctity. St. -Ciaron knowing that death was coming upon him, composed a verse which -has been preserved as an appeal against the cruel fate that ended his -life while he was yet in his prime. And the pathos of the quatrain is -very tender and natural— - - “I ask is it right, O King of Stars, - To reap a cornfield before it is ripe? - It is eating fruit before the time, - It is plucking the blossom from a hazel when it is white.” - - -ST. MARTIN. - - -St. Martin was a bad man before his conversion, and, above all, was -exceedingly close-fisted, as they say, to the poor; giving nothing and -grasping all. So he was very rich but hated by every one. - -One day, when going out, he charged the servant to have a fine batch -of loaves ready made and baked by the time he returned. While she was -kneading the dough in came a poor man and begged for some as he was -hungry; but she told him she dare not give away anything or the master -would beat her. Still the poor man begged the harder, and at last she -gave him dough enough for a couple of loaves. However, when the girl’s -back was turned, he threw the dough into the oven and went his way -without a word. - -Now when the dough was ready, the girl opened the oven to put in the -loaves, but, behold, it was already quite full of baked bread, and -would hold no more. So when Martin came home she told him all the -truth; and his heart smote him, and he cried out, “An Angel of the Lord -has been here; God has sent His messenger to rebuke me of my sins!” And -he ran out to search for the man along the road, and at last saw him -a great way off. Then Martin flung off his coat that he might run the -faster; and when he came up to the man he fell on his knees before him -on the ground, and cried out, “Oh, my Lord, I repent me of my sins; -pray to God for me, for I know you are His angel.” And from that moment -Martin’s heart was changed, and the devil left him; and he became a -true saint and servant of God, and, above all, the saint and patron of -the poor. - -Nevertheless, St. Bridget was offended with St. Martin, because -she thought he did not receive her with sufficient hospitality and -consideration. Perhaps some of the old stinginess of nature still clung -to him. And she thus pronounced her malediction over him— - -“Oh, little man, the sea-wave shall come up over thy house, and thy -name shall lie in ashes, while my name and fame shall be glorious all -over the world.” - -And this was fulfilled; for the sea actually broke in and covered the -saint’s dwelling; and the house of St. Martin can still be seen low -down beneath the waves, but if any one tries to reach it the house -fades away into the mist and is seen no more. - -There is an old superstition still observed by the people, that blood -must be spilt on St. Martin’s Day; so a goose is killed, or a black -cock, and the blood is sprinkled over the floor and on the threshold. -And some of the flesh is given to the first beggar that comes by, in -the name and in honour of St. Martin. - -In the Arran Isles St. Martin’s Day is observed with particular -solemnity, and it was held necessary, from ancient times, to spill -blood on the ground in honour of the saint. For this purpose a cock was -sacrificed; but if such could not be procured people have been known -to cut their finger in order to draw blood, and let it fall upon the -earth. The custom arose in this way:—St. Martin, having given away -all his goods to the poor, was often in want of food, and one day he -entered a widow’s house and begged for something to eat. The widow was -poor, and having no food in the house, she sacrificed her young child, -boiled it, and set it before the saint for supper. Having eaten, and -taken his departure, the woman went over to the cradle to weep for her -lost child; when lo! there he was, lying whole and well, in a beautiful -sleep, as if no evil had ever happened to him; and to commemorate this -miracle and from gratitude to the saint, a sacrifice of some living -thing is made yearly in his honour. The blood is poured or sprinkled on -the ground, and along the door-posts, and both within and without the -threshold, and at the four corners of each room in the house. - -For this symbol of purification by blood the rich farmers sacrifice a -sheep; while the poorer people kill a black cock or a white hen, and -sprinkle the blood according to ancient usage. Afterwards the whole -family dine upon the sacrificial victim. - -In some places it was the custom for the master of the house to draw a -cross on the arm of each member of the family and mark it out in blood. -This was a very sacred sign which no fairy or evil spirit, were they -ever so strong, could overcome; and whoever was signed with the blood -was safe. - -There is a singular superstition forbidding work of a certain kind to -be done on St. Martin’s Day, the 11th of November. No woman should spin -on that day; no miller should grind his corn, and no wheel should be -turned. And this custom was long held sacred, and is still observed in -the Western Islands. - - -ST. BRIDGET. - - -At one time a certain leper came to St. Bridget to beg a cow from her. - -“Which would you prefer?” said the holy Bridget, “to be healed of your -disease or to have the cow?” - -“I would be healed,” he answered. - -Then she touched him, and he became whole and went away rejoicing. - -After this Bridget’s fame spread all over Ireland; and a man of the -Britons, and his son, came to be healed; but she was at Mass, and sent -to them to wait till Mass was over. - -Now the Britons are a hasty people, and the man said, “You healed your -own people yesterday and you shall heal us to-day.” - -Then Bridget came forth and prayed over them, and they were healed. - -Another time, two lepers came to beg, and Bridget said, “I have but -this one cow—take it between you and go in peace.” - -But one leper was proud, and made answer: “I shall divide my goods with -no man. Give me the cow and I shall go.” - -And she gave it to him. - -Then the other leper said, “Give me your prayers, holy Bridget, I ask -no more.” - -And she gave him her blessing. And as he turned to depart a man came -in, and offered a cow as a present to the holy woman. - -“Now the Lord has blessed you,” she said to the humble leper. “Take -this cow and depart to your home.” - -So the man drove the cow before him, and presently came up with the -proud leper just at the ford of the river. “Cross you first,” said the -proud leper, “there is not room for two,” and the humble leper crossed -in safety with his cow; but when the other entered the ford, the -river rose, and he and his cow were carried away and drowned, for the -blessing of St. Bridget was not on him. - -Another time, two lepers came to be healed, and Bridget ordered one of -them to wash the other; which he did, and the man was healed. - -“Now,” she said, “do to your comrade as he has done to you; wash him -with water that he may be made clean of his leprosy.” - -“Oh, veiled woman,” he answered, “why should I, that am clean now in -body and limb, touch this filthy leper of the blue-grey skin? Ask me -not to do this thing.” - -Then Bridget took water and washed the leper herself. Immediately the -other who had been healed, cried out, “A fire is raging under my skin;” -and the disease came again on him worse than ever. Thus was he punished -for his pride. - -The lark is sacred to St. Bridget because its song woke her every -morning to prayers, when she had service for the women who were her -converts. - -The influence of St. Bridget remains a permanent power in Ireland even -to this day, and she is much feared by the enemy of souls and the -ill-doer. When Earl Strongbow was dying, he affirmed that he saw St. -Bridget approaching his bed, and she struck him on the foot, and the -wound she gave him mortified, and of this he died. This happened six -hundred years after Bridget’s death. - -St. Bridget, throughout her long life, held the highest position and -dignity in the Irish Church. She erected a temple in Kildare, ordained -bishops, and was head and chief of all the sacred virgins. - -She also held equal rank with the archbishop; if he had an episcopal -chair (_cathedra episcopalis_), so St. Bridget had a virginal chair -(_cathedra puellaris_), and was pre-eminent above all the abbesses of -Ireland, or of the Scots, for sanctity and power. - - -ST. KIERAN. - - -St. Kieran, also, did good service five hundred years after his death; -for when a great chief and his band plundered Clonmacnoise and carried -off the jewels from the shrine, the spirit of St. Kieran was seen in -the doorway, crosier in hand, striking at the plunderers; and when they -fled to their boat, St. Kieran raised up a strong wind that drove back -the boat, and finally the chief robber was taken and put to death, -having first confessed his crime, and testified as to St. Kieran’s -wrath against him. - - -ST. KEVIN. - - -It is related of St. Kevin that after he had been seven years at -Glendalough, a weariness of life came over him, and a longing to hear -the voice of man once more. Then Satan came to him in the form of an -angel, bright and beautiful, and persuaded him that he should quit -the valley and travel abroad and see the world, while yet his youth -was left to him. And St. Kevin was near yielding to the words of the -tempter, when fortunately St. Munna came by that way, and he at once -saw through the trick, and showed to St. Kevin that the advice was from -the devil, and not from God. And St. Kevin promised St. Munna that he -would never leave the valley till his death. However, God, not willing -that the saint should eat his heart away in idleness, bade him build a -monastery on the east of the lake, the place where the resurrection was -to be; and he sent his angel to show him the exact spot. - -But St. Kevin, when he saw the place so wild and rude, could not help -telling the friendly angel that it was very rugged and difficult to -build on; and the stones were heavy and hard to be moved. Then the -angel, to prevent any difficulty in the building, rendered the stones -light and easy to move, and so the work of building went on to the -glory of God; and St. Kevin rejoiced in the task set before him. - -And the monk who tells the story adds, that from that day in all the -place which the angel appointed for the building, there is now no stone -that cannot be lightly moved and easily worked all through the valley -of Glendalough. - - -CHRISTIAN LEGENDS. - - -The Round Tower of Clonmacnoise was never finished, for the monks -objected to the price demanded by the chief mason; and one day that he -was at the top of the tower, they said he should never come down till -he lowered the price; and they removed the scaffolding. - -Then he said, “It is easier to pull down than to build a tower,” and he -began to cast down stone by stone, so that he could descend in safety. - -On this the monks grew alarmed, and prayed him to desist and the price -should be paid; so he came down at their request, but would never again -lay hand to the work, so the tower remains unfinished to this day. - -The first bells ever used in all Ireland were hung at Clonmacnoise, but -the people of Athlone, being jealous, came at night to steal the bells, -and succeeded in carrying them away in a boat. However, before they -got out of sight of the church, the boat went down, and the bells were -never recovered, though the river was dragged from Athlone to Shannon -Bridge. - -At the seven churches of Clonmacnoise is to be seen the great cross of -St. Kieran, beautifully carved of a stone not common to the country, -called the Grecian stone, and if a woman can clasp the cross round with -her arms she will never die in childbirth. - -At a pattern held there one time, a soldier from Athlone shot off the -hand of a figure of St. Kieran, which was over the grand entrance, but -returning home he fell from the boat, and was drowned in the very spot -where the bells went down a hundred years before. - - * * * * * - -At Saints’ Island, in the Shannon, the ruins of a monastery, which -was destroyed by King John, may still be seen. When the monks, -broken-hearted and beggared, were leaving their beautiful home, one of -them kneeled down and prayed to God for forgiveness of his enemies. -Immediately a well of pure water sprang up where the monk had knelt; -and the water even to this day is held by the people to have the power -to cure all diseases, if the soul of the patient, as he drinks of the -well, is free from all malice and the desire of revenge upon those who -may have injured him. - - -SWEARING STONES AND RELICS. - - -THE CREMAVE. - - -In the old churchyard of the monastery at Saints’ Island, there is -an ancient black marble flagstone; and the monks gave it power as _A -Revealer of Truth_, and it is called the _Cremave_, or Swearing Stone. - -Any one suspected of sin or crime is brought here from the country -round, and if the accused swears falsely, the stone has the power to -set a mark upon him and his race for seven generations. But if no mark -appears then he is known to be innocent; and as long as the world -lasts, the stone is to have this power, for so the monks decreed; and -with many holy and mystic ceremonies they gave it consecration, as the -“Revealer of Truth.” And though the English burned the monastery and -defaced the altar and carried off the holy vessels, yet they had no -power over the Cremave, or Swearing Stone, which remains to this day. - -Many years ago, so runs the tale, a murder was committed in the -neighbourhood, and a certain man being suspected as the murderer, he -was forced to go to the “clearing stone”; for the people said, “If he -is innocent, the Cremave will clear him; and if guilty, let him suffer -for his crime.” - -So, on the appointed day, he went with his friends and the accuser to -the Swearing Stone; and there he was met by the priest, who adjured him -to speak the truth in presence of all the people and before the face of -God. - -The man laid his hand upon the stone, and solemnly swore that he was -innocent; but instantly his right arm was shrivelled up, his feet -failed, and he was carried home a miserable cripple, and so remained to -the end of his life. - -Some weeks after a daughter was born to him, who bore across her -forehead the impress of a bloody hand; and every one of his descendants -have some strange mark, by which the people know that the race is -accursed to the seventh generation; after which time the doom will be -lifted, and the expiation made for the crime and the perjury will be -considered sufficient by the Lord in heaven, who will then grant to the -race pardon and grace at last. - - -RELICS FOR CLEARING FROM GUILT. - - -Another relic held in reverence for swearing on by an accused person -is St. Finian’s Dish. This was found about one hundred and fifty years -ago, buried in the ruins of an old abbey. It is of silver with stones -set in it, which, the people say, are the eyes of Christ looking at -them while they swear. And when the dish is shaken a rattling noise is -heard, which they believe is made by the Virgin Mary’s bones that are -enclosed therein. - -Should a false oath be taken on the relic, the perjurer will at once -be stricken by disease, and die before the year is out. And so great -is the terror inspired by this belief, that men have fainted from fear -when brought up to swear on it. This is done by placing the hand on the -cross that is engraved in the centre of the dish, while the two eyes of -Christ are fixed on the swearer who comes for clearance from guilt. - - * * * * * - -The _Ghar-Barra_, or Crosier of St. Barry, is also a holy relic once -overlaid with gold, on which it was the custom to take a clearing -oath; as the people held it in great reverence, and nothing was more -dreaded than the consequence of a false oath on the _Ghar-Barra_. Once -a man who swore falsely thereon had his mouth turned awry, and it so -remained to his life’s end, a proof of the saint’s hatred for the sin -of perjury. The relic is kept covered carefully with green cloth, and -whoever is brought to take a clearing oath thereon must first lay down -a small piece of silver for the guardian of the shrine. - - -INNIS-MURRY. - - -At Innis-Murry, Sligo, there is a large table-stone supported on eight -perpendicular stones as a pedestal. And on the table are seventy-three -stones, from five to twenty inches in circumference, which have been -lying there from the most ancient times; for to remove them would be at -the peril of one’s life. - -On these seventy-three stones all the anathematic spirit of the island -is concentrated. If the islanders suffer any injury, real or supposed, -they come and turn these stones, uttering a malediction over their -enemy, and should he be guilty he will assuredly die, or suffer some -calamity before the year is out. - -A Scripture reader, having boldly taken away one of these stones to -show the folly of the superstition, was obliged to restore it and to -quit the island, or his life would not have been safe. - -There is another stone on the island where alone can fires be lighted, -should all the domestic fires become extinct, and the spark must be -struck from the stone itself. - -Innis-Murry is a desolate spot, rarely visited; the approach is so -dangerous on account of the sunken rocks. The crops are scanty, and -the soil is poor and light, growing only a short herbage of a spiral -and sharp kind. Neither scythe nor sickle could be used in the entire -island. Meal is unknown, and dairy produce scarcely to be had, as the -grass can only support a few sheep; but the islanders have fish in -abundance, crabs, lobsters, and mackerel especially. - -A traveller, who visited the island about fifty years ago, describes -the manners and mode of living as most primitive; but the women have -the reputation of being exceedingly virtuous, and the households are -happy and well conducted. At that time a rude stone image was venerated -by the people, called “Father Molosh,” but supposed to be an ancient -pagan idol, probably Moloch. The priest, however, has since had it -destroyed. - - - - - MYSTERIES OF FAIRY POWER. - - -THE EVIL STROKE. - - -Some persons are possessed naturally with the power of the Evil Stroke, -but it is not considered at all so unlucky as the Evil Eye; for the -person who has it does not act from intentional malice but from -necessity, from a force within him which acts without his will, and -often to his deep regret: as in hurling matches, where a chance stroke -of his may do serious injury, and even the dust of the earth raised by -his foot has blinded his opponent for a week. - -One day a young man, while wrestling with another in play at a fair, -where they met by chance, struck him on the arm, which immediately -became fixed and powerless as stone. His friends brought him home, but -nothing would restore the power of the arm or bring back the life; so -after he had lain in this state for three days his family sent for the -young man who had struck him, to ask for his help. When he came and saw -the arm stiff as stone, he anointed it all over with spittle, making -also the sign of the cross; and after some time the arm began to move -again with life, and finally was quite restored. But the young man of -the Evil Stroke was so dismayed at this proof of the strange power in -him, that he would never again join in sports for fear of some unlucky -accident. - -The power, however, is sometimes very useful, as in the case of attack -from a bull or a ferocious dog; for a touch from the hand of a person -possessing the Evil Stroke at once quells the madness in the animal, -who will crouch down trembling with fear, and become as incapable of -doing injury as if suddenly and powerfully mesmerized. - -But the power does not come by volition, only at intervals; and the -person possessing it does not himself know the moment when it can be -effectively exercised. - -Women, also, have the mysterious gift of this strange occult force, -and one young girl was much dreaded in the country in consequence; for -anything struck by her, beast or man, became instantly paralyzed, as -if turned to stone. One day, at a hurling match, she threw a lump of -clay at the winner in anger, because her own lover had failed to win -the prize. Immediately the young victor fell down stunned and lifeless, -and was so carried home to his mother. Then they sent in all haste -for the young girl to restore him to consciousness; but she was so -frightened at her own evil work that she went and hid herself. Finding -it then impossible to bring her, his friends sent for the fairy doctor, -who, by dint of many charms and much stroking, at last restored the -young man to life. The girl, however, was in such dread of the curses -of the mother, that she fled, and took service in a distant part of -the country. And all the people rejoiced much over her departure from -amongst them. - -Yet it was considered lucky in some ways to have a fairy-stricken child -in the house, for the fairies generally did a good turn by the family -to compensate for the evil. And so there was always plenty of butter in -the churn, and the cattle did not sicken wherever there was a stricken -child. - - * * * * * - -It is also lucky to employ a half-simpleton about the farm, and to be -kind to the deaf and dumb, and other afflicted creatures. No one in -Ireland would harm them or turn them out of their way, and they always -get food and drink for the asking, without any payment being thought of -or accepted. - - -THE CHANGELING. - - -A woman was one night lying awake while her husband slept, when the -door suddenly opened and a tall dark man entered, of fierce aspect, -followed by an old hag with a child in her arms—a little, misshapen, -sickly-looking little thing. They both sat down by the fire to warm -themselves, and after some time the man looked over at the cradle that -stood beside the mother’s bed with her boy in it, and kept his eyes -on it for several minutes. Then he rose, and when the mother saw him -walking over direct to the cradle, she fainted and knew no more. - -When she came to herself she called to her husband, and bade him light -a candle; this he did, on which the old hag in the corner rose up at -once and blew it out. Then he lit it a second time, and it was blown -out; and still a third time he lit the candle, when again it was blown -out, and a great peal of laughter was heard in the darkness. - -On this the man grew terribly angry, and taking up the tongs he made a -blow at the hag; but she slipped away, and struck him on the arm with -a stick she held in her hand. Then he grew more furious, and beat her -on the head till she roared, when he pushed her outside and locked the -door. - -After this he lit the candle in peace; but when they looked at the -cradle, lo! in place of their own beautiful boy, a hideous little -creature, all covered with hair, lay grinning at them. Great was their -grief and lamentation, and both the man and his wife wept and wailed -aloud for the loss of their child, and the cry of their sorrow was -bitter to hear. - -Just then the door suddenly opened, and a young woman came in, with a -scarlet handkerchief wound round her head. - -“What are you crying for,” she asked, “at this time of night, when -every one should be asleep?” - -“Look at this child in the cradle,” answered the man, “and you will -cease to wonder why we mourn and are sad at heart.” And he told her all -the story. - -When the young woman went over to the cradle and looked at the child, -she laughed, but said nothing. - -“Your laughter is stranger than our tears,” said the man. “Why do you -laugh in the face of our sorrows?” - -“Because,” she said, “this is my child that was stolen from me -to-night; for I am one of the fairy race, and my people, who live under -the fort on the hill, thought your boy was a fine child, and so they -changed the babies in the cradle; but, after all, I would rather have -my own, ugly as he is, than any mortal child in the world. So now I’ll -tell you how to get back your own son, and I’ll take away mine at once. -Go to the old fort on the hill when the moon is full, and take with you -three sheafs of corn and some fire, and burn them one after the other. -And when the last sheaf is burning, an old man will come up through the -smoke, and he will ask you what it is you desire. Then tell him you -must have your child back, or you will burn down the fort, and leave -no dwelling-place for his people on the hill. Now, the fairies cannot -stand against the power of fire, and they will give you back your child -at the mere threat of burning the fort. But mind, take good care of him -after, and tie a nail from a horse-shoe round his neck, and then he -will be safe.” - -With that the young woman took up the ugly little imp from the cradle -in her arms, and was away before they could see how she got out of the -house. - -Next night, when the moon was full, the man went to the old fort with -the three sheafs of corn and the fire, and burned them one after the -other; and as the second was lighted there came up an old man and asked -him what was his desire. - -“I must have my child again that was stolen,” he answered, “or I’ll -burn down every tree on the hill, and not leave you a stone of the fort -where you can shelter any more with your fairy kindred.” - -Then the old man vanished, and there was a great silence, but no one -appeared. - -On this the father grew angry, and he called out in a loud voice, “I -am lifting the third sheaf now, and I’ll burn and destroy and make -desolate your dwelling-place, if my child is not returned.” - -Then a great tumult and clamour was heard in the fort, and a voice -said, “Let it be. The power of the fire is too strong for us. Bring -forth the child.” - -And presently the old man appeared, carrying the child in his arms. - -“Take him,” he said. “By the spell of the fire, and the corn you have -conquered. But take my advice, draw a circle of fire, with a hot coal -this night, round the cradle when you go home, and the fairy power -cannot touch him any more, by reason of the fire.” - -So the man did as he was desired, and by the spell of fire and of corn -the child was saved from evil, and he grew and prospered. And the old -fort stands to this day safe from harm, for the man would allow no hand -to move a stone or harm a tree; and the fairies still dance there on -the rath, when the moon is full, to the music of the fairy pipes, and -no one hinders them. - - -THE FAIRY DOCTOR. - - -If a healthy child suddenly droops and withers, that child is -fairy-struck, and a fairy doctor must be at once called in. Young girls -also, who fall into rapid decline, are said to be fairy-struck; for -they are wanted in Fairy-land as brides for some chief or prince, and -so they pine away without visible cause till they die. - -The other malign influences that act fatally on life are the Wind and -the Evil Eye. The evil power of the Wind is called a fairy-blast; -while, of one suffering from the Evil Eye, they say he has been -“overlooked.” - -The fairy doctor must pronounce from which of these three causes the -patient is suffering. The fairy-stroke, or the fairy-blast, or the Evil -Eye; but he must take no money for the opinion given. He is paid in -some other way; by free gracious offerings in gratitude for help given. - -A person who visited a great fairy doctor for advice, thus describes -the process of cure at the interview:— - -“The doctor always seems as if expecting you, and had full knowledge of -your coming. He bids you be seated, and after looking fixedly on your -face for some moments, his proceedings begin. He takes three rods of -witch hazel, each three inches long, and marks them separately, ‘For -the Stroke,’ ‘For the Wind,‘ ‘For the Evil Eye.’ This is to ascertain -from which of these three evils you suffer. He then takes off his coat, -shoes, and stockings; rolls up his shirt sleeves, and stands with his -face to the sun in earnest prayer. After prayer he takes a dish of pure -water and sets it by the fire, then kneeling down, he puts the three -hazel rods he had marked into the fire, and leaves them there till they -are burned black as charcoal. All the time his prayers are unceasing; -and when the sticks are burned, he rises, and again faces the sun in -silent prayer, standing with his eyes uplifted and hands crossed. After -this he draws a circle on the floor with the end of one of the burned -sticks, within which circle he stands, the dish of pure water beside -him. Into this he flings the three hazel rods, and watches the result -earnestly. The moment one sinks he addresses a prayer to the sun, and -taking the rod out of the water he declares by what agency the patient -is afflicted. Then he grinds the rod to powder, puts it in a bottle -which he fills up with water from the dish, and utters an incantation -or prayer over it, in a low voice, with clasped hands held over the -bottle. But what the words of the prayer are no one knows, they are -kept as solemn mysteries, and have been handed down from father to -son through many generations, from the most ancient times. The potion -is then given to be carried home, and drunk that night at midnight -in silence and alone. Great care must be taken that the bottle never -touches the ground; and the person carrying it must speak no word, -and never look round till home is reached. The other two sticks he -buries in the earth in some place unseen and unknown. If none of the -three sticks sink in the water, then he uses herbs as a cure. Vervain, -eyebright, and yarrow are favourite remedies, and all have powerful -properties known to the adept; but the words and prayers he utters over -them are kept secret, and whether they are good or bad, or addressed to -Deity or to a demon, none but himself can tell.” - -These are the visible mysteries of the fairy doctor while working out -his charms and incantations. But other fairy doctors only perform the -mysteries in private, and allow no one to see their mode of operation -or witness the act of prayer. - -If a potion is made up of herbs it must be paid for in silver but -charms and incantations are never paid for, or they would lose their -power. A present, however, may be accepted as an offering of gratitude. - - -THE POET’S SPELL. - - -A very ancient story, as old as the tenth century, is narrated, and -firmly believed by the people, that once on a time when the reapers -were at work, a fine handsome young married woman, who was in the -field with them, suddenly fell down dead. This caused a great fear -and consternation, especially as it was asserted that just before the -fatal event, a fairy blast had passed over the field, carrying a cloud -of dust and stones with it; and there could be no doubt but that the -fairies had rushed by in the cloud, and struck the woman dead as they -passed. - -Then her people sent for the great wise poet of the tribe, who -was reputed to have the power by his song to break the strongest -fairy spells: and he chanted low music over her, and uttered mystic -incantations, the words of which no man heard; but after a while the -woman unclosed her eyes and rose up, restored to life. - -When they questioned her, she told them all she knew. - -“In sickness I was,” she said, “and I appeared to be dead, for I could -neither speak nor move, till the song of the poet gave me power. Then -the life rose up in me again, and the strength, and I was healed.” - - -CHARM FOR THE FAIRY STROKE. - - -There is a very ancient and potent charm which may be tried with great -effect in case of a suspected fairy-stroke. - -Place three rows of salt on a table in three lines, three equal -measures to each row. The person performing the spell then encloses the -rows of salt with his arm, leaning his head down over them, while he -repeats the Lord’s Prayer three times over each row—that is, nine times -in all. Then he takes the hand of the one who has been fairy-struck, -and says over it, “By the power of the Father, and of the Son, and of -the Holy Spirit, let this disease depart, and the spell of the evil -spirits be broken! I adjure, I command you to leave this man [naming -him]. In the name of God I pray; in the name of Christ I adjure; in the -name of the Spirit of God I command and compel you to go back and leave -this man free! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!” - - -THE FARMER’S FATE. - - -The peasants have the greatest dread of the fairy-stroke, and consider -it the most dangerous indication of fairy hostility. When a person is -struck, he becomes wholly insensible to external things, as if his soul -had been taken out of him and carried away. - -A farmer once began to build a barn on a fairy circle, to the great -horror of the neighbours, who warned him of the danger; but he only -laughed at their nonsense, and built and finished his barn on the fairy -rath. - -However, riding home one evening after sunset, he was suddenly -“struck,” and fell insensible to the ground. They carried him home and -laid him on his bed, where he lay for several days, his eyes fixed and -staring without any motion of the eyelids, and no indication of life -remaining, except his colour which never changed. - -All the doctors came and looked at him, but could do nothing. There -was no fracture nor injury of any kind to his frame; so the doctors -shook their heads and went their way, saying they would call again in -a day or two. But the family objected to delay, and sent at once for -the great fairy doctor of the district. The moment he came he threw -herbs on the fire, when a fragrant smell filled the room like church -incense. Then he pounded some herbs and mixed a liquid with them, but -what the herbs were, no one knew. And with this mixture he touched the -brow and the lips and the hands of the man, and sprinkled the rest over -his insensible form. After this he told them to keep silence round him -for two hours, when he would return and finish the cure. And so it -happened, for in two hours the life came back to the man, though he -could not speak. But strength came gradually; and by the next day he -rose up, and said he had dreamed a dream, and heard a voice saying to -him, “Pull down the barn, for ill-luck is on it.” Accordingly he gave -orders to his men, and every stick and stone was carried away, and -the fairy rath left free again for the fairies to dance on, as in the -olden time, when they were the gods of the earth, long before men came -to dispute their rights, and take possession of their ancient pleasure -grounds—an indignity no high-spirited fairy could calmly endure. For -in their councils they had decreed that the fairy rath, at least, -should be sacred for all time, and woe to the man who builds his house -thereon. An evil fate is on him and on the house for evermore. Down it -must come, or the evil spell will never be lifted. There is no hope for -it, for the most dangerous and subtle of all enemies is an angry fairy. - -Nor should the paths even be crossed by work of human hand, which the -fairies traverse from one palace to another. Their line of march -must not be impeded. Finvarra and his men would resent such a gross -insult to the royal fairy rights, and severely punish the audacious -and offending mortal. Not even the Grand Jury would be allowed to -interfere, for if they did, every man of them would be demolished in -some way or other by fairy power. - - -THE FAIRY RATH. - - -The fairies, beside being revengeful, are also very arrogant, and allow -no interference with their old-established rights. - -There is a rath in the Queen’s County, only four yards in diameter, -but held so sacred as the fairies’ dancing ground that no one dared to -remove a handful of earth from the mound; and at night the sweetest -low music may be heard floating round the hill, as if played by silver -bagpipes. - -One evening a boy lay down on the rath to listen to the music, and, -without thinking, began to gather up balls of the clay and fling them -hither and thither in sport, when suddenly he was struck down by a -violent blow and became senseless. - -There he was found by his people, who went to search for him; and when -he came to himself he bleated like a calf, and it was a long time -before he recovered his reason, for the power of the fairies is great, -and none can resist it. - - - - - THE HOLY WELLS - - -There is no superstition stronger in Ireland than a belief in the -curative power of the sacred wells that are scattered over the -country; fountains of health and healing which some saint had blessed, -or by which some saint had dwelt in the far-off ancient times. But -well-worship is even older than Christianity. It is part of the early -ritual of humanity, brought from the Eastern lands by the first Aryan -tribes who migrated westward, passing along from the Mediterranean to -the Atlantic shores. - -The Delphic oracle in its origin was nothing more than a holy well, -shadowed by trees, on which were hung the votive offerings of the -praying peasants, long before the rival kings brought to the sacred -spot their votive tributes of silver and gold, and crowns of precious -stones. - -In Ireland the beautiful, picturesque, and tree-shadowed wells of -the country were held sacred by the Druid priests, as is evident -from the many remarkable Druidical remains that have been found in -their vicinity—ruins of temples and pillar-stones, and stones with -strange carvings. Much also of the ancient Druidic ceremonial has been -preserved by the people, such as the symbolic dances, the traditions -of sun-worship, and other pagan rites, which were incorporated into -the Christian ritual of well-worship by the early converts, and are -still retained, though, through the lapse of ages, they have entirely -lost their original significance, and are now only practised as ancient -customs, for which the Irish have great reverence, as having come down -to them from their forefathers. The ceremonial is the same at all these -places of devout pilgrimage. The pilgrims go round the well a certain -number of times, either three or nine, creeping on their hands and -knees, but always from east to west, following the apparent motion -of the sun, and reciting paters and aves all the time. At the close -of each round they build up a small pile of stones; for at the last -day the angels will reckon these stones, and he who has said the most -prayers will have the highest place in heaven, each saint keeping count -for his own votaries. The patient then descends the broken steps to the -well and, kneeling down, bathes his forehead and hands in the water, -after which oblation the pain or disease he suffered from will be -gradually removed, and depart from him for evermore. - -At some wells there is often a rude stone monument of the ancient -times, and the eyes of the pilgrim must be kept steadily fixed on it -while reciting the prayers. - -Whenever a white-thorn or an ash-tree shadows the place, the well is -held to be peculiarly sacred; and on leaving, having first drunk of the -water, the patient ties a votive offering to the branches—generally a -coloured handkerchief or a bright red strip cut from a garment; and -these offerings are never removed. They remain for years fluttering in -the wind and the rain, just as travellers have described the votive -offerings on the sacred trees that shadow the holy wells of Persia. -They are signs and tokens of gratitude to the patron saint, and are -meant to show the devil that he has no longer power to harm the praying -pilgrim, or torment him with pains and aches as heretofore. It is -not supposed that the water of the well has any natural medicinal -properties. The curative efficacy is wholly due to the observance of -the ritual in honour of the saint, whose spirit and influence is still -over the well, by which he lived, and of which he drank while living on -the earth. - - -THE WHITE STONES. - - -At many of the wells quantities of beautiful white stones are found -that glitter in the sun, and these are highly esteemed by the pilgrims -to build up their prayer monuments. - -One day some women were eagerly collecting these stones, after each -round of praying, in order to build up a monument; when suddenly a -strain of soft, exquisite music seemed to rise up from the water and -float by them. In their joy and wonder the women clapped their hands -and laughed aloud, when instantly the music ceased and the pile of -stones fell down. By which sign they knew that they should not have -laughed while the angels were singing; and they fell on their knees and -prayed. - - * * * * * - -A holy well once lost all its power because a murder had been committed -near it; and another because it was cursed by a priest in consequence -of the immorality that prevailed at the patterns. - - -THE SACRED TROUT. - - -The water of the sacred well must never be used for household -purposes—cooking, washing, or the like. But after the well was cursed -by the priest, and the tents were struck, and no pattern was held there -any longer, it lost all its sanctity, and was no longer held sacred by -the people, who began to fill their pails, and carry the water away -home for cooking and household use; while also they all washed their -clothes down at the well, just as if no sanctity had ever been in the -water. - -However, one day a woman having put down a pot of water to boil, found -that no amount of fire would heat it. Still it remained ice-cold, as -if just drawn from the well. So she looked carefully into the pot, and -there beheld the Sacred Speckled Trout sailing round and round quite -contented and happy. On seeing this, she knew that the curse was lifted -from the well, and she ran and told the priest. His reverence having -seen the Sacred Trout with his own eyes, ordered it to be carried back -to the well, the water of which at once regained all its sacred powers -by the blessing of the priest; and he gave the people leave thenceforth -to hold their pattern there, so as they behaved themselves like decent, -God-fearing Christians for the future. But the water was not allowed to -be carried away any more to their houses for household purposes; the -desecration of the holy water of a sacred well being strictly forbidden -as dangerous and unlucky. - - -ST. AUGUSTINE’S WELL. - - -At a holy well in the south, dedicated to St. Augustine, the friars -began to build a convent. And during all the hours of work bells were -heard ringing sweetly and voices singing; but one day a woman came and -washed her feet in the water of the well, and thereupon all the bells -ceased and the singing stopped, and the work could not go on. So the -friars chose another site, and they drew a circle round it, within -which no woman was to set her foot; and after this the bells began to -ring again and the voices sang, and the work went on safely till the -convent was completed in the name of God and St. Augustine; but no -woman during all that time ever set foot on the holy ground. - - -THE GRILLED TROUT. - - -In Sligo there is a well called _Tober-na-alt_, beautifully shadowed by -trees, the branches of which are thickly hung with all sorts of votive -offerings from those who have been cured by the water; and miracle-men -attended, who professed to heal diseases by charms, prayers, and -incantations. - -A man who had been born blind once recited his experiences there. “Oh, -Christians, look on me! I was blind from my birth and saw no light -till I came to the blessed well; now I see the water and the speckled -trout down at the bottom, with the white cross on his back. Glory be -to God for the cure.” And when the people heard that he could really -see the speckled trout, of course they all believed in the miracle. -For a tradition exists that a sacred trout has lived there from time -immemorial, placed in the well by the saint who first sanctified -the water. Now there was an adventurous man who desired much to get -possession of this trout, and he watched it till at last he caught it -asleep. Then he carried it off and put it on the gridiron. The trout -bore the grilling of one side very patiently; but when the man tried to -turn it on the fire, the trout suddenly jumped up and made off as hard -as it could back to the well, where it still lives, and can be seen at -times by those who have done proper penance and paid their dues to the -priest, with one side all streaked and marked brown by the bars of the -gridiron, which can never be effaced. - - -LEGEND OF NEAL-MOR. - - -There is a great hole or well near the river Suir, always filled with -water, whose depth no man has yet fathomed. Near it is a castle, which -in old times belonged to a powerful chief called _Neal-mor_. One day -while his servants were saving the hay, a violent tempest of wind and -rain came on, which quite destroyed the crop. Then Neal-mor was filled -with rage, and he mounted his horse and drew his sword, and rode forth -to the field; and there he challenged the Lord God Himself to battle. -And he swung his sword round his head and struck at the air, as if -he would kill and slay the Great Invisible Spirit. On which suddenly -a strange thing happened, for a great whirlwind arose and the earth -opened, and Neal-mor, still astride on his horse and with his sword in -his hand, was lifted high up into the air and then cast down alive into -the great hole, called _Poul-mor_, which may be seen to this day, and -the castle is still standing by the margin. But no trace of Neal-mor or -his steed was ever again beheld. They perished utterly by the vengeance -of God. - -But some time after his disappearance, a rude stone figure seated on -a horse, was cast up out of the earth; and then all men knew the fate -of the terrible chief who had braved the wrath of God, for here was -his image and the sign of his destruction. The stone figure is still -preserved at the castle, and tradition says that if it were removed, -the whole castle would crumble to pieces in a single night and be cast -into the _Poul-mor_. - - -ST. JOHN’S WELL. - - -At St. John’s well, County Cork, there is a large stone, believed to -be the real true head of John the Baptist, grown hard and solid from -time and the action of the elements. And the stone has certainly a rude -resemblance to a human head. - -Suspected persons are brought to swear on it for a clearing from guilt; -for it is held in high reverence. Compacts are also made there, which -are held inviolate, for no one who swears with his hand on the stone, -would ever dream of breaking the oath, and each person present as -witness scratches a cross on the surface with a sharp piece of slate. - -A number of pagan remains are in the vicinity, but they are now held in -reverence as places of Christian sanctity. - -Some time ago an ancient stone image was dug up from the earth, which -antiquarians pronounced to be a pagan idol, probably the Irish Siva. -This was at first consecrated as Saint Gobnath, but afterwards the -priest destroyed the image with his own hands. - -All the paths round the well are marked deep by the lines of praying -pilgrims who go round it on their knees. And there are piles of the -little stones that mark the prayers of the penitents, all ready for -the angels to count. Most of the stones are of pure quartz, white and -glistening, and these are highly esteemed. - - -THE WELL OF FIONN MA-COUL. - - -The ancient churches and cells of the saints were generally placed in -the vicinity of a well, which then became sanctified and endowed with -miraculous healing power. Or the well may have been held sacred by the -Druids, and the scene of their pagan rites; therefore selected by the -saint specially as his dwelling-place, so that he might bring it under -the fosterage and holy influence of Christianity. - -The grave of the great Fionn was laid by a celebrated well in the -County Cork, and it is certain that a massive human jawbone was found -there not long ago, far exceeding in size the bones of the present race -of men. This jawbone was sent to London to be inspected by the learned -philosophers, but was never returned—a great and grievous wrong to the -renowned Irish chief, for no doubt the mighty Fionn will want it badly -at the last day, when he is gathering up his bones to appear before the -Lord. - - -ST. SEENAN’S WELL. - - -There is a place on the shore of Scattery Island, where, according to -the most ancient tradition, a sacred well once existed, with miraculous -curative powers. But no one could ever discover the place, for at high -water the sea covered every point up to the edge of the land, and the -shifting sand made all efforts to find the locality of the well vain -and fruitless. - -But one day a young man who was lame in both legs from the effects of a -fall, and much disabled in consequence, was going along the shore with -some companions, when he suddenly sank up to his waist in the sand. -With much difficulty, and after a long while, his comrades managed to -haul him up, when to their amazement they found that his legs were now -quite straight, and he stood up before them four inches taller than -before he sank down into the sand. - -So at once they knew that the sacred well must have worked the cure, -and they dug and dug and cleared away the sand, till at last they came -on some ancient steps, and down below lay the well, clear and fresh, -and untouched by the salt of the sea, the holy well of St. Seenan, that -their fathers and forefathers had vainly looked for. - -Now there was great rejoicing in the country when the news spread; and -all the people from far and near who had pains and ailments rushed off -to the well and drank of the waters and poured libations of it over -their persons, wherever the pain or the disease lay, and in a short -time wonderful cures were effected. So next day still greater crowds -arrived to try their good luck. But when they came to the place, not a -vestige of the well could be found. The sand and the sea had covered -all, and from that day to this the holy well of St. Seenan has never -been seen by mortal eyes. - - -KIL-NA-GREINA. - - -_Tober Kil-na-Greina_ (the well of the fountain of the sun) was -discovered only about eighty years ago, by a strange chance in the -County Cork. - -The land was a desolate marsh, no one built on it, and nothing grew on -it or near it. But a large grey stone lay there, with a natural hollow -in the centre that would hold about a gallon of water, and close by -were the remains of an old pagan fort. - -One day, the farmer who owned the land carried off this great grey -stone to use as a drinking trough for his cattle. But not long after -all the cattle grew sick, and then all the children sickened, so the -farmer said there was ill luck in the business, and he carried back -the stone to its old place, on which all the household recovered -their health. Thereupon the farmer began to think there must be -something wonderful and mysterious in the locality, so he had the marsh -thoroughly drained, after which process they came upon an ancient stone -circle, and in the midst was a well of beautiful fresh water. Some -people said there was writing on the stones, and strange carvings; but -it was generally believed to be a Druid temple and oracle, for there -was a tradition that a woman called the _Ban-na-Naomha_ (the nymph of -the well) had once lived there—and that she had the gift of prophecy, -and uttered oracles to those who sought her at the shrine by the well; -and there was a little wooden image of her, also, that used to speak to -the people—so it was said and believed. It is certain, however, that a -pagan temple once existed there, for which reason St. Patrick cursed -the land and turned it into a marsh, and the well was hidden for a -thousand years, according to St. Patrick’s word. - -On the discovery of the well the whole country flocked to it for cures. -Tents were erected and a pattern was organized, which went on for some -years with great success, and many authentic instances are recorded of -marvellous miracles performed there. - -The ritual observed was very strict at the beginning, three draughts -of water were taken by the pilgrims, the number of drinks three, the -number of rounds on their knees were three, thus making the circuit of -the well nine times. After each round the pilgrim laid a stone on the -ancient altar in the Druid circle, called “the well of the sun,” and -these stones, named in Irish “the stones of the sun,” are generally -pure white, and about the size of a pigeon’s egg. They have a beautiful -appearance after rain when the sun shines on them, and were doubtless -held sacred to the sun in pagan times. The angels will reckon these -stones at the last day, but each particular saint will take charge of -his own votaries and see that the stones are properly counted, for each -man will receive forgiveness according to their number. - -But gradually the revelry at the pattern gave occasion for so much -scandal, that the priest denounced the well from the altar, along with -all the wickedness it fostered and encouraged. Still the people would -not give up the pattern, and the drinking, and dancing, and gambling, -and fighting went on worse than ever, until one day a man was killed. -After this a curse seemed to have fallen on the place. The well lost -all its miraculous powers, no cures were effected; the maimed, the -halt, and the blind prayed before it, and went the rounds, and piled -the stones as usual, but no help came, and worst sign of all, a great -pagan stone on which a cross had been erected, fell down of its own -accord, and the cross lay shattered on the ground. Then all the people -knew that the curse of blood and of St. Patrick was indeed over the -well; so it was deserted, and the tents were struck, and no pattern was -ever held there any more, for the virtue of healing had gone from “the -fountain of the sun,” and never has come back to it through all the -years. - -Even the _Ban-Naomha_, the nymph of the fountain, who used to manifest -herself occasionally to the regenerate under the form of a trout, -disappeared at the same time, and though she may be heard of at other -sacred wells, was never again seen by the devout pilgrims who watched -for her appearance at the _Tober-kil-na-Greina_. - - -THE WELL OF WORSHIP. - - -At _Tober Mire_, the well of the field of worship, County Cork, there -are also many pagan monuments, and it is evident that the vicinity was -one of the strongholds of the Druids in ancient times, where they had -a temple, a burial-ground, and stones for sacrifice: a much larger -population existed also round the temple than can now be numbered in -the same locality. - - -THE BRIDE’S WELL. - - -Near the last-named well is the Bride’s Well, _Tober Breda_ (the -holy well of St. Bridget). There is a stone oratory here of fabulous -antiquity, with a doorway fashioned after the Egyptian model, -sloping towards the top; also an ancient white-thorn covered with -votive offerings, amongst which one may see many a long lock of the -splendid dark hair of the Irish southern women, who adopt this antique -traditional symbol of self-sacrifice to show their gratitude to the -patron saint. - -St. Bridget took the name of the pagan goddess Brighita in order to -destroy and obliterate the idolatrous rites and transfer the devotion -of the people to the Christian ceremonies, and _Tober-Breda_ is now -considered of the highest sanctity, being under the special patronage -of St. Bridget. - - -THE IRISH FAKIR. - - -Many of the professional prayer-men, or Fakirs, resort to the -_Tober-Breda_ during the pattern, and manage to obtain gifts and -contributions and all sorts of excellent things in exchange for their -prayers from the rich farmers and young girls, to whom they promise -good luck, and perhaps also a lover who will be handsome and young. - -These Irish Fakirs, or sacred fraternity of beggars, lead a pleasant, -thoroughly idle life. They carry a wallet and a staff, and being looked -on as holy men endowed with strange spiritual gifts, they are entirely -supported by the voluntary gifts of the people, who firmly believe in -the mysterious efficacy of their prayers and blessings and prognostics -of luck. - -One of these Fakirs towards the end of his life was glad to find -shelter in the poor-house. He was then eighty years of age, but a tall, -erect old man, with flowing white beard and hair, keen eyes, and of the -most venerable aspect. - -A gentleman who saw him there, being much struck with his dignified and -remarkable appearance, induced him to tell the story of his life, which -was marked by several strange and curious incidents. - -He said he was a farmer’s son, but from his earliest youth hated work, -and only liked to spend the long summer day lying on the grass gazing -up into the clouds dreaming and thinking where they were all sailing -to, and longing to float away with them to other lands. - -Meanwhile his father raged and swore and beat him, often cruelly, -because he would not work. But all the same, he could not bring himself -to be digging from morning to night, and herding cattle, and keeping -company only with labourers. - -So when he was about twenty he formed a plan to run away; for, he -thought, if the stupid old Fakirs who are lame and blind and deaf find -people ready to support them, all for nothing, might not he have a -better chance for getting board and lodging without work, since he had -youth and health and could tell them stories to no end of the great old -ancient times. - -So one night he quitted his father’s house secretly, and went forth on -his travels into the wide world, only to meet bitter disappointment and -rude repulse, for the farmers would have nothing to say to him, nor the -farmers’ wives. Every one eyed him with suspicion. “Why,” they said, -“should a great stalwart young fellow over six feet high go about the -country begging? He was a tramp and meant no good.” And they chased him -away from their grounds. - -Then he thought he would disguise himself as a regular Fakir; so he -got a long cloak, and took a wallet and a staff, and hid his raven -black hair under a close skull cap, and tried to look as old as he -could. - -But the regular Fakirs soon found him out, and their spite and rage was -great, for all of them were either lame of a leg or blind of an eye, -and they said; “Why should this great broad-shouldered young fellow -with the black eyes come and take away our chances of living, when -he ought to be able to work and earn enough to keep himself without -robbing us of our just rights?” And they grumbled and snarled at him -like so many dogs, and set people to spy on him and watch him. - -Still he was determined to try his luck on every side: so he went to -all the stations round about and prayed louder and faster than any -pilgrim or Fakir amongst the whole lot. - -But wherever he went he saw a horrible old hag for ever following him. -Her head was wrapped up in an old red shawl, and nothing was seen -of her face except two eyes, that glared on him like coals of fire -whichever way he turned. And now, in truth, his life became miserable -to him because of this loathsome hag. So he went from station to -station to escape her; but still she followed him, and the sound of -her stick on the ground was ever after him like the hammering of a -nail into his coffin, for he felt sure he would die of the torment and -horror. - -At last he thought he would try _Tobar-Breda_ for his next station, as -it was several miles off and she might not be able to follow him so -far. So he went, and not a sign of her was to be seen upon the road. -This rejoiced his heart, and he kneeled down at the well and was saying -his prayers louder and faster than ever when he looked up, and there, -kneeling right opposite to him at the other side of the road, was the -detestable old witch. But she took no notice of him, only went on -saying her prayers and telling her beads as if no one were by. - -Presently, however, she stooped down to wash her face in the well, -and, as she threw up the water with her hands, she let the red shawl -slip down over her shoulders, and then the young man beheld to his -astonishment a beautiful young girl before him with a complexion like -the lily and the rose, and soft brown hair falling in showers of curls -over her snow-white neck. - -He had only a glimpse for a moment while she cast the water in her -face, and then she drew the red shawl again over her head and shoulders -and was the old hag once more that had filled him with horror. But that -one glimpse was enough to make his heart faint with love; and now for -the first time she turned her burning eyes full on him, and kept them -fixed until he seemed to swoon away in an ecstacy of happiness, and -knew nothing more till he found her seated beside him, holding his hand -in hers, and still looking intently on his face with her glittering -eyes. - -“Come away,” she whispered; “follow me. We must leave this crowd of -pilgrims. I have much to say to you.” - -So he rose up, and they went away together to a secluded spot, far from -the noise and tumult of the station. Then she threw off the shawl, and -took the bandage from her face, and said, “Look on me. Can you love -me? I have followed you day by day for love of you. Can you love me in -return, and join your fate to mine? I have money enough for both, and -I’ll teach you the mysteries by which we can gain more.” - -And from that day forth they two travelled together all over the -country; and they practised many strange mysteries and charms, for -Elaine, his wife, was learned in all the secrets of herb lore. And the -people paid them well for their help and knowledge, so that they never -wanted anything, and lived like princes, though never an evil act was -done by their hands, nor did a word of strife ever pass between them. - -Thus they lived happily for many years, till an evil day came when -Elaine was struck by sickness, and she died. - -Then the soul of the man seemed to die with her, and all his knowledge -left him, and sad and weary, and tired of all things, he finally came -to end his days in the poor-house, old, poor, and broken-hearted. Yet -still he had the bearing of one born for a higher destiny, and the -noble dignity as of a discrowned king. - -Such was the strange story told to the gentleman by the aged Fakir in -the poor-house, a short time before his death. - - -SACRED TREES. - - -The large old hawthorns, growing singly in a field or by an ancient -well, are considered very sacred; and no one would venture to cut them -down, for the fairies dance under the branches at night, and would -resent being interfered with. - -There is a Holy Stone in an island of the Shannon, called St. Patrick’s -Stone. It is shadowed by an aged hawthorn, the perfume of which can be -scented far off on the mainland in the flowering season. At the top -of this stone is a large hollow, always filled with water by the rain -or the dew, which is kept from evaporation by the heavy shadows of -the branching hawthorn. It is believed that the water of this hollow -has great healing power, and sometimes when a patient is brought from -a distance, a rude stone shed is built under the tree, and there he -is laid till the cure is completed by the water of the Holy Stone. On -leaving he ties a votive offering to the tree, which is always covered -with these memorials of gratitude. - -In autumn the people go to bewail the dead at St. Patrick’s Stone; and -the mournful Irish chant may be often heard rising up in the still -evening air with weird and solemn effect. - - -TOBER-NA-DARA. - - -_Tober-na-Dara_ (the well of tears) was so called because it overflowed -one time for a mile round, from the tears of the Irish wives and -mothers who came there to weep for their fallen kindred, who had been -slain in a battle, fighting against Cromwell’s troopers of the English -army. - - -LOUGH NEAGH. - - -Wonderful tales are related about the formation of Lough Neagh; and the -whole country round abounds with traditions. One of them affirms that -the great Fionn Ma-Coul being in a rage one day, took up a handful of -earth and flung it into the sea; and the handful was of such a size -that where it fell it formed the Isle of Man, and the hollow caused by -its removal became the basin of the present Lough Neagh. - -Another legend is that a holy well once existed in the locality, -blessed and sanctified by a saint with wonderful miraculous powers of -healing; provided that every patient on leaving, after cure, carefully -closed the wicket-gate that shut in the well. But once, however, a -woman having forgotten this information, left the gate open, when -instantly the indignant waters sprang from their bed and pursued the -offender, who fled in terror before the advancing waves, until at last -she sank down exhausted, when the waters closed over her, and she was -no more seen. But along the track of her flight the waters remained, -and formed the great lake now existing, which is exactly the length the -woman traversed in her flight from the angry spirit of the lake. - -Mysterious influences still haunt the locality all round Lough Neagh; -for it is the most ancient dwelling-place of the fairies, and when they -pass at night, from one island to another, soft music is heard floating -by, and then the boatmen know that the fairies are out for a pleasure -trip; and one man even averred that he saw them going by in the track -of the moonbeam, a crowd of little men all dressed in green with red -caps, and the ladies in silver gossamer. And he liked these pretty -creatures, and always left a little _poteen_ for them in the bottle -when he was on the island. In return for which attention they gave him -the best of good luck in fishing and in everything else; for never a -gauger came next or nigh his place while the fairies protected him, and -many a time they led the gauger into a bog, and otherwise discomfited -him, when he and his men were after a still. - -So the fisherman loved his little friends, and they took great care of -him; for even in the troublous times of ’98, when the wreckers were all -over the country, they did him no harm; though indeed the same wreckers -knew where to find a good glass of something when they came his way, -and he always gave it to them with a heart and a half; for didn’t they -tell him they were going to free Ireland from the Sassenach tyranny. - -Down deep, under the waters of Lough Neagh, can still be seen, by -those who have the gift of fairy vision, the columns and walls of the -beautiful palaces once inhabited by the fairy race when they were the -gods of the earth; and this tradition of a buried town beneath the -waves has been prevalent for centuries amongst the people. - -Giraldus Cambrensis states, that in his time the tops of towers, “built -after the fashion of the country,” were distinctly visible in calm, -clear weather, under the surface of the lake; and still the fairies -haunt the ruins of their former splendour, and hold festivals beneath -the waters when the full moon is shining; for the boatmen, coming home -late at night, have often heard sweet music rising up from beneath the -waves and the sound of laughter, and seen glimmering lights far down -under the water, where the ancient fairy palaces are supposed to be. - - -THE DOCTOR AND THE FAIRY PRINCESS. - - -Late one night, so the story goes, a great doctor, who lived near -Lough Neagh, was awoke by the sound of a carriage driving up to his -door, followed by a loud ring. Hastily throwing on his clothes, the -doctor ran down, when he saw a little sprite of a page standing at the -carriage door, and a grand gentleman inside. - -“Oh, doctor, make haste and come with me,” exclaimed the gentleman. -“Lose no time, for a great lady has been taken ill, and she will have -no one to attend her but you. So come along with me at once in the -carriage.” - -On this the doctor ran up again to finish his dressing, and to put up -all that might be wanted, and was down again in a moment. - -“Now quick,” said the gentleman, “you are an excellent good fellow. Sit -down here beside me, and do not be alarmed at anything you may see.” - -So on they drove like mad—and when they came to the ferry, the doctor -thought they would wake up the ferryman and take the boat; but no, in -they plunged, carriage and horses, and all, and were at the other side -in no time without a drop of water touching them. - -Now the doctor began to suspect the company he was in; but he held his -peace, and they went on up Shane’s Hill, till they stopped at a long, -low, black house, which they entered, and passed along a narrow dark -passage, groping their way, till, all at once, a bright light lit up -the walls, and some attendants having opened a door, the doctor found -himself in a gorgeous chamber all hung with silk and gold; and on a -silken couch lay a beautiful lady, who exclaimed with the most friendly -greeting— - -“Oh, doctor, I am so glad to see you. How good of you to come.” - -“Many thanks, my lady,” said the doctor, “I am at your ladyship’s -service.” - -And he stayed with her till a male child was born; but when he looked -round there was no nurse, so he wrapped it in swaddling clothes and -laid it by the mother. - -“Now,” said the lady, “mind what I tell you. They will try to put a -spell on you to keep you here; but take my advice, eat no food and -drink no wine, and you will be safe; and mind, also, that you express -no surprise at anything you see; and take no more than five golden -guineas, though you may be offered fifty or a hundred, as your fee.” - -“Thank you, madam,” said the doctor, “I shall obey you in all things.” - -With this the gentleman came into the room, grand and noble as a -prince, and then he took up the child, looked at it and laid it again -on the bed. - -Now there was a large fire in the room, and the gentleman took the fire -shovel and drew all the burning coal to the front, leaving a great -space at the back of the grate; then he took up the child again and -laid it in the hollow at the back of the fire and drew all the coal -over it till it was covered; but, mindful of the lady’s advice, the -doctor said never a word. Then the room suddenly changed to another -still more beautiful, where a grand feast was laid out, of all sorts of -meats and fair fruits and bright red wine in cups of sparkling crystal. - -“Now, doctor,” said the gentleman, “sit down with us and take what best -pleases you.” - -“Sir,” said the doctor, “I have made a vow neither to eat nor drink -till I reach my home again. So please let me return without further -delay.” - -“Certainly,” said the gentleman, “but first let me pay you for your -trouble,” and he laid down a bag of gold on the table and poured out a -quantity of bright pieces. - -“I shall only take what is my right and no more,” said the doctor, and -he drew over five golden guineas, and placed them in his purse. “And -now, may I have the carriage to convey me back, for it is growing late?” - -On this the gentleman laughed. “You have been learning secrets from my -lady,” he said. “However, you have behaved right well, and you shall be -brought back safely.” - -So the carriage came, and the doctor took his cane, and was carried -back as the first time through the water—horses, carriage, and all—and -so on till he reached his home all right just before daybreak. But -when he opened his purse to take out the golden guineas, there he saw -a splendid diamond ring along with them in the purse worth a king’s -ransom, and when he examined it he found the two letters of his own -name carved inside. So he knew it was meant for him, a present from the -fairy prince himself. - -All this happened a hundred years ago, but the ring still remains -in the doctor’s family, handed down from father to son, and it is -remarked, that whoever wears it as the owner for the time has good luck -and honour and wealth all the days of his life. - -“And by the light that shines, this story is true,” added the narrator -of the tale, using the strong form of asseveration by which the -Irish-speaking peasants emphasize the truth of their words. - - -A HOLY WELL. - - -On the north side of Lough Neagh there is still a holy well of great -power and sanctity. Three ancient white-thorn trees overshadow it, and -about a mile distant is the fragmentary ruin of a wooden cross, erected -in the olden time to mark the limit of the sacred ground. - -It was the custom up to a recent date for the pilgrims to go round this -well thirteen times barefoot on the 27th of June, drink of the water, -wash in it, and then, holding themselves freed from all past sin, -return to the old worldly life, and begin again after the usual fashion -the old routine of business or pleasure, or reckless folly, conscious -that they could come once more the following year and clear off all the -accumulated stains of an ill life by a lavation in the holy well. - -A number of yellow crystals are found near, which the people say grow -in the rocks in one night upon Midsummer Eve. And these crystals have -power to avert all evil and bring luck and blessing to a house and -family, and certain words are said while gathering them, known only to -the adepts. The crystals are, however, very plentiful, and are found -scattered for a space of two miles round the well, and in the crannies -of the rocks. When burned in a crucible they become pure lime in one -hour, and the powder ferments with spirits of vitriol; yet the waters -of the well when analyzed present no appearance of lime. - -At one time an effort was made to change the name of Lough Neagh to -Lough Chichester, in honour of the Lord Deputy, Sir Arthur Chichester, -but the Irish would not accept the new baptism, and the old name still -remains unchanged. - - -A SACRED ISLAND. - - -At Toome Island there is the ruin of an ancient church, where the dead -walk on November Eve. It is a solemn and sacred place, and nothing is -allowed to be taken from it; neither stone nor branch of the shadowing -trees, for fear of angering the spirits. One day three men who were on -the island cut down some branches of an elder-tree that grew there to -repair a private still, and carried them off in their boat; but when -just close to the shore a violent gust of wind upset the boat, and the -men were drowned. The wood, however, floated back to the island, and a -cross was made of it which was erected on the beach, to commemorate the -fate of the doomed men. - -It is recorded, also, that a certain stone having been taken away by -some masons from the ancient ruin, to build into the wall of the parish -church, which they were erecting in the place, the water in the town -well suddenly began to diminish, and at last dried up, to the great -consternation and terror of the inhabitants, who were at their wits’ -end to know the cause; when luckily an old woman of the place dreamed a -dream about the abduction of the stone, which gave the solution of the -mystery. - -At once the people took the matter into their own hands, and they went -in a body and cast down the wall till they came on the stone, which was -then placed in a boat, and carried back with solemn ceremonial to the -island, where it was replaced in its original site, and, immediately -after, the water flowed back again into the well, and the supply became -even more copious than ever. - - -THE LAKE OF REVENGE. - - -Near the great mountain of Croagh-Patrick there is a lake called -_Clonvencagh_, or the Lake of Revenge, to which evil-disposed persons -used to resort in order to imprecate maledictions on their enemies. It -was the custom also to erect monuments round the well by placing on -end a long flagstone, and heaping round it a pyramid of sand in order -to keep it fixed firmly in its place. Over these pillar-stones certain -mystic rites were then performed by the pilgrims, and prayers were said -which took the form of the most terrible imprecations. It was therefore -with awe and terror that one man said of another, “He has been cursed -by the stone.” - - -SCENES AT A HOLY WELL. - - -Scenes of holy faith, of tender love, and human pity are, however, -happily more frequent amongst the devotees at the holy wells of Ireland -than the fierce mutterings of malediction. At these sacred places may -be seen the mother praying for her child, the girl for her lover, the -wife for her husband; going the rounds on their bare knees, with the -crucifix in their clasped hands and their eyes raised to heaven in -silent prayer, with a divine faith that this prayer will be answered; -and who can say but that the fervour of the supplication has often -brought down the blessing of healing for the sick, or comfort for the -sorrowing? The picturesque grouping round the holy well, the background -of purple mountains, the antique stone cross at which the pilgrims -kneel, the costumes and often the beautiful faces of the praying women, -with their long dark hair and purple Irish eyes, form a scene of -wonderful poetic and dramatic interest, which has been immortalized by -Sir Frederick Burton in his great national picture, _The Blind Girl at -the Holy Well_—a work that at once made the young painter famous, and -laid the foundation of the subsequent career of this distinguished and -perfect artist. - - -LOUGH FOYLE. - - -Lough Foyle means the borrowed lake, for in old times there were -two weird sisters dwelling beyond the Shannon, who were skilled in -necromancy. And the elder sister said to the younger— - -“Give me the loan of your silver lake, for I have none; and I promise -to restore it to you next Monday.” - -So the younger, being good-natured, rolled up the lake in a sheet and -despatched it over hills and dales to her sister. But when the time -came for return, the elder sister, being deceitful and cunning, made -answer to the messenger sent for it— - -“Truly, I said Monday, but I meant the Day of Judgment. So I shall keep -the lake till then.” - -And the lake therefore remains in her country to this day, while the -great hollow whence it was taken can still be seen in Connaught, bare -and barren, waiting for the waters that never will return. - - -THE HEN’S CASTLE. - - -At the head of Lough Corrib, deep in the water about a gunshot from -the land, stands the ancient castle of _Caisleen-na-Cearca_, said to -have been built in one night by a cock and a hen, but in reality it was -founded by the ill-fated Roderick O’Connor, the last king of Ireland. -Strange lights are sometimes seen flitting through it, and on some -particular midnight a crowd of boats gather round it, filled with men -dressed in green with red sashes. And they row about till the cock -crows, when they suddenly vanish and the cries of children are heard -in the air. Then the people know that there has been a death somewhere -in the region, and that the Sidhe have been stealing the young mortal -children, and leaving some ill-favoured brat in the cradle in place of -the true child. - -The old castle has many historic memories; the celebrated _Graina -Uaile_, the great chieftainess of the West, made it her abode for -some time, and carried thither the young heir of Howth, whom she had -abducted from Howth Castle, when on one of her piratical expeditions. -Afterwards, during the Wars of Elizabeth, a distinguished lady of -the sept of the O’Flaherties, Bevinda O’Flahertie, shut herself up -there with her only daughter and heiress, and a following of twenty -resolute men. But further to ensure her safety, she wrote to the Queen, -requesting permission to arm the guard; Queen Elizabeth in return -sent an autograph letter granting the request, but addressed to “her -good friend, Captain Bevan O’Flahertie,” evidently thinking that the -custodian of such a castle must certainly be a man. - -In the solemn solitude of this picturesque and stately -_Caisleen-na-Cearca_, the great lake fortress of Lough Corrib, with its -rampart of purple mountains and its water pathway fifty miles long, the -young heiress grew up tall and beautiful, the pride of the west. And in -due time she married Blake of Menlo Castle. And from this historic pair -is descended the present baronet and owner of the property, Sir John -Blake of Menlo. - -Cromwell ruthlessly dismantled the castle, and it has remained a ruin -ever since; but the massive walls, and the beautiful twelfth century -ornamentation of doors and windows still attest the ancient grandeur -of the edifice, before “the curse of Cromwell” fell upon it, and upon -the country and on the people of Ireland. - - -SLIABH-MISH, COUNTY KERRY. - - -Every one knows that Sliabh-Mish, County Kerry, is haunted. The figure -of a man, accompanied by a huge black dog, is frequently seen standing -on a high crag, but as the traveller approaches, the forms disappear, -although they rise up again before him on another crag, and so continue -appearing and disappearing as he journeys on. Many travellers have -seen them, but no one has ever yet been able to meet the man and the -dog face to face on the mountain side, for they seem to melt away in -the mist, and are seen no more on reaching the spot. It happened, once -upon a time, that a man journeying alone over the mountain path, took -out his snuff-box to solace himself with a pinch, and was putting it up -again in his waistcoat pocket, when he heard a voice near him saying, -“Not yet! not yet! I am near you, wait.” - -He looked-round, but not a soul was to be seen. However, he thought -it right to be friendly, so he shook some snuff from the box in the -palm of his hand and held it out in the air. But his hair stood on -end, and he trembled with fright, when he felt invisible fingers on -his hand picking up the snuff, and when he drew it back the snuff had -disappeared. - -“God and the saints between us and harm!” exclaimed the poor man, ready -to drop down from terror. - -“Amen,” responded the clear voice of some invisible speaker close -beside him. - -Then the man quickly made the sign of the cross over the hand touched -by the spirit, and so went on his way unharmed. - - -THE SKELLIGS OF KERRY. - - -The Skellig Rocks are situated about eleven miles from the mainland, -and are considered of great sanctity. In the Middle Ages, during the -penitential weeks of Lent, the monks used to leave the adjacent convent -and retire to the Skelligs Rocks for silence, prayer, and abstinence. -Several ancient stone-roofed cells are still in existence at the top of -the rock, showing where they dwelt. These cells are of the most ancient -cyclopean order of building known in Ireland, and are far older than -the church near them, which does not date earlier than the seventh -century. - -Certainly no place more awful in its loneliness and desolation could be -imagined than the summit of the bleak rock, reached only by a narrow -way, almost inaccessible, even to those accustomed to climb precipitous -paths, but which makes the ordinary traveller giddy with fear and dread. - -As marriages were not allowed in Lent, it became a custom for the -young people of both sexes to make a pilgrimage to the Skellig Rocks -during the last Lenten week. A procession was formed of the young -girls and bachelors, and tar-barrels were lighted to guide them on the -dangerous paths. The idea was to spend the week in prayer, penance, -and lamentation; the girls praying for good husbands, the bachelors -repenting of their sins. But the proceedings gradually degenerated into -such a mad carnival of dancing, drinking, and fun, that the priests -denounced the pilgrimage, and forbade the annual migration to the -Skelligs. Still the practice was continued until the police had orders -to clear the rocks. Thus ended the ancient custom of “going to the -Skelligs:” for the mayor having pronounced judgment over the usage as -“subversive of all morality and decorum,” it was entirely discontinued; -and the wild fun and frolic of the Skelligs is now but a tradition -preserved in the memory of the oldest inhabitant. - - - - - POPULAR NOTIONS CONCERNING THE SIDHE RACE. - - -From the earliest ages the world has believed in the existence of a -race midway between the angel and man, gifted with power to exercise a -strange mysterious influence over human destiny. The Persians called -this mystic race Peris; the Egyptians and the Greeks named them demons, -not as evil, but as mysterious allies of man, invisible though ever -present; capable of kind acts but implacable if offended. - -The Irish called them the Sidhe, or spirit-race, or the _Feadh-Ree_, -a modification of the word Peri. Their country is the _Tir-na-oge_, -the land of perpetual youth, where they live a life of joy and beauty, -never knowing disease or death, which is not to come on them till the -judgment day, when they are fated to pass into annihilation, to perish -utterly and be seen no more. They can assume any form and they make -horses out of bits of straw, on which they ride over the country, and -to Scotland and back. They have no religion, but a great dread of the -_Scapular_ (Latin words from the Gospels written by a priest and hung -round the neck). Their power is great over unbaptized children, and -such generally grow up evil and have the evil eye, and bring ill luck, -unless the name of God is instantly invoked when they look at any one -fixedly and in silence. - -All over Ireland the fairies have the reputation of being very -beautiful, with long yellow hair sweeping the ground, and lithe light -forms. They love milk and honey, and sip the nectar from the cups of -the flowers, which is their fairy wine. - -Underneath the lakes, and deep down in the heart of the hills, they -have their fairy palaces of pearl and gold, where they live in -splendour and luxury, with music and song and dancing and laughter and -all joyous things as befits the gods of the earth. If our eyes were -touched by a fairy salve we could see them dancing on the hill in the -moonlight. They are served on vessels of gold, and each fairy chief, to -mark his rank, wears a circlet of gold round his head. - -The Sidhe race were once angels in heaven, but were cast out as a -punishment for their pride. Some fell to earth, others were cast into -the sea, while many were seized by demons and carried down to hell, -whence they issue as evil spirits, to tempt men to destruction under -various disguises; chiefly, however, as beautiful young maidens, -endowed with the power of song and gifted with the most enchanting -wiles. Under the influence of these beautiful sirens a man will commit -any and every crime. Then when his soul is utterly black they carry him -down to hell, where he remains for ever tortured by the demons to whom -he sold himself. - -The fairies are very numerous, more numerous than the human race. In -their palaces underneath the hills and in the lakes and the sea they -hide away much treasure. All the treasure of wrecked ships is theirs; -and all the gold that men have hidden and buried in the earth when -danger was on them, and then died and left no sign of the place to -their descendants. And all the gold of the mine and the jewels of the -rocks belong to them; and in the Sifra, or fairy-house, the walls are -silver and the pavement is gold, and the banquet-hall is lit by the -glitter of the diamonds that stud the rocks. - -If you walk nine times round a fairy rath at the full of the moon, you -will find the entrance to the Sifra; but if you enter, beware of eating -the fairy food or drinking the fairy wine. The Sidhe will, indeed, wile -and draw many a young man into the fairy dance, for the fairy women -are beautiful, so beautiful that a man’s eyes grow dazzled who looks -on them, with their long hair floating like the ripe golden corn and -their robes of silver gossamer; they have perfect forms, and their -dancing is beyond all expression graceful; but if a man is tempted to -kiss a _Sigh-oge_, or young fairy spirit, in the dance, he is lost for -ever—the madness of love will fall on him, and he will never again be -able to return to earth or to leave the enchanted fairy palace. He is -dead to his kindred and race for ever more. - -On Fridays the fairies have special power over all things, and chiefly -on that day they select and carry off the young mortal girls as brides -for the fairy chiefs. But after seven years, when the girls grow old -and ugly, they send them back to their kindred, giving them, however, -as compensation, a knowledge of herbs and philtres and secret spells, -by which they can kill or cure, and have power over men both for good -and evil. - -It is in this way the wise women and fairy doctors have acquired their -knowledge of the mysteries and the magic of herbs. But the fairies -do not always keep the mortal women in a seven years’ bondage. They -sometimes only take away young girls for a dance in the moonlight, and -then leave them back in their own home lulled in a sweet sleep. But the -vision of the night was so beautiful that the young girls long to dream -again and be made happy with the soft enchantments of the music and -dance. - -The fairies are passionately fond of music; it is therefore dangerous -for a young girl to sing when she is all alone by the lake, for the -spirits will draw her down to them to sing to them in the fairy palace -under the waves, and her people will see her no more. Yet sometimes -when the moonlight is on the water, and the waves break against the -crystal columns of the fairy palace far down in the depths, they can -hear her voice, and they know that she is singing to the fairies in the -spirit land beneath the waters of the lake. - -There was a girl in one of the villages that could see things no one -else saw, and hear music no one else heard, for the fairies loved her -and used to carry her away by night in a dream to dance with the fairy -chiefs and princes. But, above all, she was loved by Finvarra the king, -and used to dance with him all night till sunrise though her form -seemed to be lying asleep on the bed. - -One day she told some of her young companions that she was going that -night to a great fairy dance on the rath, and if they chose she would -bring them and put a salve on their eyes so that they would see wonders. - -The young girls went with her, and on coming to the rath she said— - -“Now put your foot on my foot and look over my left shoulder, and you -will see the king and queen and all the beautiful lords and ladies -with gold bands round their heads dancing on the grass. But take care -when you see them to make no sign of the cross, nor speak the name of -God, or they will vanish away, and perhaps even your life would be in -danger.” - -On hearing this the girls ran away in fear and terror without ever -using the spell or seeing the fairies. But the other remained, and told -her friends next day that she had danced all night to the fairy music, -and had heard the sweetest singing, so that she longed to go back and -live for ever with the spirits on the hill. - -And her wish was granted, for she died soon after, and on the night of -her death soft music was heard floating round the house, though no one -was visible. And it was said also that beautiful flowers grew on her -grave, though no hand planted them there, and shadowy forms used to -gather in the moonlight and sing a low chant over the place where she -was laid. - -The fairies can assume all forms when they have special ends in view, -such as to carry off a handsome girl to Fairyland. For this purpose -they sometimes appear at the village festivities as tall, dark, -noble-looking gentlemen, and they wile away the young girls as partners -in the dance by their grand air and the grace of their dancing. And -ever after the young girl who has danced with them moves and dances -with a special fairy grace, though sometimes she pines away and seems -to die, but every one knows that her soul has been carried off to the -_Tir-na-oge_, where she will be made the bride of the fairy king and -live in luxury and splendour evermore. - -Yet, though the fairies are fond of pleasure, they are temperate in -their mode of living, and are besides honest in their dealings and -faithful to their promises. If they borrow wine from the gentry they -always repay it in blessings, and never indulge much in eating or -drinking. But they have no objection to offer to mortals the subtle red -wine at the fairy banquets, which lulls the soul to sleep and makes -the reason powerless. The young men that they beguile into their fairy -palaces become their bond-slaves, and are set to hard tasks. One man -said he had marched with Finvarra’s men all the way from Mayo to Cork, -but there they had to leave him as they were going to Spain and could -not take him across the sea on their white horses. - -They also much desire the aid of a powerful mortal hand to assist them -in their fairy wars, for they have often disputes and battles amongst -themselves for the possession of some coveted rath or dancing ground. - -Once a fairy prince came to a great chieftain of Connaught, one of the -Kirwans, and begged for aid against a hostile fairy tribe that had -invaded his territories. The required aid being given, the fairies and -their mortal auxiliaries plunged into the lake and fought the enemy -and conquered; after which the Connaught men returned to shore laden -with rich presents of silver and gold and crystal wine-cups as the -expression of gratitude from the fairy prince. - -It is said that Kirwan of Castle Hackett, the great Connaught chief, -also received a beautiful fairy bride on that occasion, and it is -certain that all the female descendants of the family are noted for -their beauty, their grace in dancing, and their sweet voices in -speaking. Lady Cloncurry, mother of the present Lord Cloncurry, was of -this race, and in her youth was the acknowledged leading beauty of the -Irish Court and celebrated for the rare fascination of her manner and -voice. - - -THE HURLING MATCH. - - -The fairies, with their true artistic love of all the gentle graces of -life, greatly dislike coarse and violent gestures, and all athletic -sports, such as hurling and wrestling; and they often try to put an end -to them by some evil turn. - -One day a great cloud of dust came along the road during a hurling -match and stopped the game. On this the people grew alarmed, for they -said the fairies are out hunting and will do us harm by blinding us; -and thousands of the Sidhe swept by, raising a terrific dust, though no -mortal eye could see them. - -Then one man, a good player and musician, ran for his fiddle and began -to play some vigorous dance tunes, “for now,” said he, “the fairies -will begin to dance and forget us, and they will be off in no time to -hold a revel on the rath to the music of their own fairy pipes.” - -And so it was, for at once the whirlwind of dust swept on to the hill -of the fairy rath, and the hurling ground was left clear for the game -to go on again in safety. - -It must be acknowledged that the fairies are a little selfish, or they -would not have interfered with the great national sport of hurling, -which is the favourite amusement of the country, and used to be held as -a high festival, and arranged with all the ceremonial of a tournament; -at least before the bad times destroyed all the fun and frolic of the -peasant life. - -The prettiest girl of the village was chosen as the hurling girl—the -_Colleen-a-bhailia_. Dressed in white, and accompanied by her maidens, -she proceeded to the hurling ground, the piper and fiddlers going -before her playing gay dance tunes. - -There she was met by the procession of the young men surrounding the -chief hurler—always a stalwart youth of over six feet. And the youth -and the maiden joined hands and began the dance—all the people cheering. - -This was called the opening of the hurling. And for the next match -another pair would be selected, each village girl anxiously hoping to -be the _Colleen-a-bhailia_ chosen to lead the ceremonial dance for -the second or following games. Naturally the hurling tournament ended -with a festive supper, much love-making, and many subsequent marriages -between the pretty colleens and stalwart young hurlers, despite all -the envy and jealousy of the fairies, who maliciously tried to mar the -pleasures of the festival. - - -THE RIDE WITH THE FAIRIES. - - -The fairies take great delight in horsemanship, and are splendid -riders. Many fine young men are enticed to ride with them, when they -dash along with the fairies like the wind, Finvarra himself leading, -on his great black horse with the red nostrils, that look like flames -of fire. And ever after the young men are the most fearless riders in -the country, so the people know at once that they have hunted with the -fairies. And after the hunt some favourite of the party is taken to a -magnificent supper in the fairy palace, and when he has drunk of the -bright red wine they lull him to sleep with soft music. But never again -can he find the fairy palace, and he looks in vain for the handsome -horseman on his fine black steed, with all the gay young huntsmen in -their green velvet dresses, who rushed over the field with him, like -a flash of the storm wind. They have passed away for ever from his -vision, like a dream of the night. - -Once on a time a gentleman, also one of the Kirwans of Galway, was -riding by the fairy hill—where all the fairies of the West hold their -councils and meetings, under the rule of Finvarra the king—when a -strange horseman, mounted on a fiery black steed, suddenly appeared. -But as the stranger bid him the time of day with distinguished grace, -Mr. Kirwan returned his greeting courteously, and they rode on together -side by side, discoursing pleasantly—for the stranger seemed to know -every one and everything, though Mr. Kirwan could not remember ever -having seen him before. - -“Now,” said the black horseman, “I know that you are to be at the races -to-morrow, so just let me give you a hint: if you wish to be certain -of winning, allow me to send you my man to ride your horse. He never -failed in a race yet, and he shall be with you early, before the start.” - -With that, at a turn of the road, the stranger disappeared; for he -was no other than Finvarra himself, who had a friendly liking for the -tribe of the Kirwans, because all the men were generous who came of the -blood, and all the women handsome. - -Next morning, as Mr. Kirwan was setting out for the race, his groom -told him that a young jockey was waiting to see him. He was the -strangest looking little imp, Mr. Kirwan thought, he had ever set eyes -on, but he felt compelled to give him all the rights and power that was -necessary for the race, and the young imp was off in a moment, like a -flash of lightning. - -Mr. Kirwan knew no more—he seemed like one in a dream—till the silver -cup was handed to him as winner of the race, and congratulations poured -down on him, and every one asked eagerly where he got the wonderful -jockey who seemed to make the horse fly like the spirit of the wind -itself. But the jockey by this time had disappeared. However, the -stranger on the black horse was there, and he constrained Mr. Kirwan -to come with him to dinner; and they rode on pleasantly, as before, -till they reached a grand, beautiful house, with a crowd of gorgeous -servants waiting on the steps to receive the lord and master and his -guest. - -One of them led Mr. Kirwan to his room to dress for dinner, and there -he found a costly suit of violet velvet ready, in which the valet -arrayed him. Then he entered the dining-hall. It was all lit up -splendidly, and there were garlands of flowers twining round crystal -columns, and golden cups set with jewels for the wine, and golden -dishes. - -The host seemed an accomplished man of the world, and did the honours -with perfect grace. Conversation flowed freely, while soft music was -heard at intervals from invisible players, and Mr. Kirwan could not -resist the charm and beauty of the scene, nor the bright red wine that -his host poured out for him into the jewelled cups. - -Then, when the banquet was over, a great crowd of ladies and gentlemen -came in and danced to sweet low music, and they circled round the guest -and tried to draw him into the dance. But when he looked at them it -seemed to him that they were all the dead he had once known; for his -own brother was there, that had been drowned in the lake a year before; -and a man who had been killed by a fall when hunting; and others whose -faces he knew well. And they were all pale as death, but their eyes -burned like coals of fire. - -And as he looked and wondered, a lovely lady came over to him, wearing -a necklace of pearls. And she clasped his wrist with her little hand, -and tried to draw him into the circle. - -“Dance with me,” she whispered, “dance with me again. Look at me, for -you once loved me.” - -And when he looked at her he knew that she was dead, and the clasp of -her hand was like a ring of fire round his wrist; and he drew back in -terror, for he saw that she was a beautiful girl he had loved in his -youth, and to whom he had given a necklace of pearls, but who died -before he could make her his bride. - -Then his heart sank with fear and dread, and he said to his host— - -“Take me from this place. I know the dancers; they are dead. Why have -you brought them up from their graves?” - -But the host only laughed and said, “You must take more wine to keep -up your courage.” And he poured him out a goblet of wine redder than -rubies. - -And when he drank it, all the pageant and the music and the crowd faded -away from before his eyes, and he fell into a profound sleep, and knew -no more till he found himself at home, laid on his bed. And the servant -told him that a strange horseman had accompanied him to the door late -in the night, who had charged them to lay the master gently in his bed -and by no means to awake him till noon next day, for he was weary after -the race; and he bade them take the hunter to the stables and tend him -carefully, for the animal was covered with foam, and all trembling. - -At noon Mr. Kirwan awoke, and rose up as well as ever: but of all the -fairy revels nothing remained to him but the mark round his wrist of -the clasp of a woman’s hand, that seemed burned into his flesh. - -So he knew the night’s adventure was no mere dream of the fancy, and -the mark of the dead hand remained with him to his last hour, and the -form of the young girl with her necklace of pearls often came before -him in a vision of the night; but he never again visited the fairy -palace, and never saw the dark horseman any more. As to the silver cup, -he flung it into the lake, for he thought it had come to him by devil’s -magic and would bring no good luck to him or to his race. So it sank -beneath the waves, and the silver cup was seen no more. - - -THE FAIRY SPY. - - -Sometimes the fairies appear like old men and women, and thus gain -admission to houses that they may watch and spy, and bewitch the -butter, and abduct the children, and carry off the young girls for -fairy brides. - -There was a man in the west who was bedridden for seven years, and -could do no work and had to be lifted by others when he moved. Yet the -amount of food he consumed was enormous, and as every one pitied him, -people were constantly bringing him all sorts of good things; and he -ate up everything but grew no stronger. - -Now on Sundays when the family went to mass, they locked him up, but -left him plenty of food, for there was no one in the house to help him. -One Sunday, however, they left chapel earlier than usual, and as they -were going by the shore they saw a great crowd of strangers hurling, -and in the midst of them, hurling and running and leaping, was the sick -man, as well and jolly as ever a man could be. They called out to him, -on which he turned round to face them, but that instant he disappeared. - -So the family hastened home, unlocked the door, and went straight up to -the room, where they found the man in bed as usual, thin and weak and -unable to move; but he had eaten up all the food and was now crying out -for more. On this the family grew very angry and cried, “You have been -deceiving us. You are in league with the witch-folk; but we’ll soon see -what you really are, for if you don’t get up out of that bed at once, -we’ll make down a fire and lay you on it, and make you walk.” - -Then he cried and roared: but they seized him to drag him to the fire. -So when he saw they were in earnest he jumped up and rushed to the -door, and before they could touch him he had disappeared, and was seen -no more. - -Now, indeed, they knew that he was in league with the devil, and they -burned his bed and everything belonging to him, and poured holy water -on the room. And when all was burned, nothing remained but a black -stone with strange signs on it. And by this, no doubt, he performed -his enchantments. And the people were afraid of it and gave it to the -priest, who has it to this day, so there can be no doubt as to the -truth of the story. - -And the priest knows the hidden meaning of the strange signs which give -power to the stone; but will reveal the secret to no one, lest the -people might try to work devil’s magic with it, and unlawful spells by -the power of the stone and the power of the signs. - - -THE DARK HORSEMAN. - - -One day a fine, handsome young fellow, called Jemmy Nowlan, set off to -walk to the fair at Slane, whither some cattle of his had been sent -off for sale that same morning early. And he was dressed in his best -clothes, spruce and neat; and not one in all the county round could -equal Jemmy Nowlan for height, strength, or good looks. So he went -along quite gay and merry in himself, till he came to a lonely bit -of the road where never a soul was to be seen; but just then the sky -became black-dark, as if thunder were in the air, and suddenly he heard -the tramp of a horse behind him. On turning round he saw a very dark, -elegant looking gentleman, mounted on a black horse, riding swiftly -towards him. - -“Jemmy Nowlan,” said the dark horseman, “I have been looking for you -all along the road. Get up now, quickly, behind me, and I’ll carry you -in no time to the great fair of Slane; for, indeed, I am going there -myself, and it would be very pleasant to have your company.” - -“Thank your honour kindly,” said Jemmy; “but it’s not for the likes of -me to ride with your lordship; so I would rather walk, if it’s pleasing -to your honour; but thanks all the same.” - -Truth to tell, Jemmy in his own mind had a fear of the strange -gentleman and his black horse, and distrusted them both, for had he not -heard the people tell strange stories of how young men had been carried -off by the fairies, and held prisoners by their enchantments down deep -in the heart of the hill under the earth, where never a mortal could -see them again or know their fate; and they were only allowed to come -up and see their kindred on the nights the dead walked, and then they -walked with them as they rose from the graves? So again he began to -make his excuses, and meanwhile kept looking round for some path by -which he could escape if possible. - -“Come now,” said the dark horseman, “this is all nonsense, Jemmy -Nowlan; you really must come with me.” - -And with that he stooped down and touched him lightly on the shoulder -with his whip, and in an instant Jemmy found himself seated on the -horse, and galloping away like the wind with the dark horseman; and -they never stopped nor stayed till they came to a great castle in a -wood, where a whole set of servants in green and gold were waiting on -the steps to receive them. And they were the smallest people Jemmy had -ever seen in his life; but he made no remark, for they were very civil, -and crowded round to know what they could do for him. - -“Take him to a room and let him dress,” said the gentleman, who -appeared to own the castle. And in the room Jemmy found a beautiful -suit of velvet, and a cap and feather. And when the little servants had -dressed him they led him to the large hall that was all lit up and hung -with garlands of flowers; and music and dancing were going on, and many -lovely ladies were present, but not one in the hall was handsomer than -Jemmy Nowlan in his velvet suit and cap and feather. - -“Will you dance with me, Jemmy Nowlan?” said one lovely lady. - -“No, Jemmy: you must dance with me,” said another. - -And they all fought for him, so he danced with them all, one after the -other, the whole night through, till he was dead tired and longed to -lie down and sleep. - -“Take Jemmy Nowlan to his room, and put him to bed,” said the gentleman -to a red-haired man; “but first he must tell me a story.” - -“I have no story, your honour,” said Jemmy, “for I am not book-learned; -but I am very tired, let me lie down and sleep.” - -“Sleep, indeed,” said the gentleman; “not if I can help it. Here, -Davy”—and he called the red-haired man—“take Jemmy Nowlan and put him -out; he can tell no story. I will have no one here who can’t tell me a -story. Put him out, he is not worth his supper.” - -So the red-haired man thrust Jemmy out at the castle gate, and he was -just settling himself to sleep on a bench outside, when three men came -by bearing a coffin. - -“Oho, Jemmy Nowlan,” they said, “you are welcome. We just wanted a -fourth man to carry the coffin.” - -And they made him get under it with them, and away they marched over -hedge and ditch, and field and bog, through briars and thorns, till -they reached the old churchyard in the valley, and then they stopped. - -“Who will dig a grave?” said one. - -“Let us draw lots,” said another. - -And the lot fell on Jemmy. So they gave him a spade, and he worked and -worked till the grave was dug broad and deep. - -“This is not the right place at all for a grave,” said the leader of -the party when the grave was finished. “I’ll have no one buried in this -spot, for the bones of my father rest here.” - -So they had to take up the coffin again, and carry it on over field and -bog till they reached another churchward, where Jemmy was obliged to -dig a second grave; and when it was finished, the leader cried out— - -“Who shall we place in the coffin?” - -And another voice answered— - -“We need draw no lots; lay Jemmy Nowlan in the coffin!” - -And the men seized hold of him and tried to cast him to the ground. But -Jemmy was strong and powerful, and fought them all. Still they would -not let go their hold, though he dealt them such blows as would have -killed any other men. And at last he felt faint, for he had no weapon -to fight with, and his strength was going. - -Then he saw that the leader carried a hazel switch in his hand, and he -knew that a hazel switch brought luck; so he made a sudden spring and -seized it, and whirled it three times round his head, and struck right -and left at his assailants, when a strange and wondrous thing happened; -for the three men who were ready to kill him, fell down at once to the -ground, and remained there still as the dead. And the coffin stood -white in the moonlight by itself, and no hand touched it, and no voice -spoke. - -But Jemmy never waited to look or think, for the fear of the men was on -him, lest they should rise up again; so he fled away, still holding the -hazel twig in his hand, and ran on over field and bog, through briars -and thorns, till he found himself again at the castle gate. Then all -the grand servants came out, and the little men, and they said— - -“You are welcome, Jemmy Nowlan. Come in; his lordship is waiting for -you.” - -And they brought him to a room where the lord was lying on a velvet -couch, and he said— - -“Now, young man, tell me a story, for no one in my castle is allowed to -eat, drink, or sleep till they have related something wonderful that -has happened to them.” - -“Then, my lord,” said Jemmy, “I can tell you the most wonderful of -stories; and very proud I am to be able to amuse your lordship.” - -So he told him the story of the three men and the coffin, and the lord -was so pleased that he ordered the servants to bring the youth a fine -supper, and the best of wine, and Jemmy ate like a prince from gold -dishes, and drank from crystal cups of the wine, and had the best of -everything; but after the supper he felt rather queer and dazed-like, -and fell down on the ground asleep like one dead. - -After that he knew nothing till he awoke next morning, and found -himself lying under a haystack in his own field, and all his beautiful -clothes were gone—the velvet suit and cap and feather that he had -looked so handsome in at the dance, when all the fine ladies fell in -love with him. Nothing was left to him of all the night’s adventure -save the hazel twig, which he still held firmly in his hand. - -And a very sad and down-hearted man was Jemmy Nowlan that day, -especially when the herd came to tell him that none of the cattle -were sold at the fair, for the men were waiting for the master, and -wondering why he did not come to look after his money, while all the -other farmers were selling their stock at the finest prices. - -And Jemmy Nowlan has never yet made out why the fairies played him -such a malicious and ill turn as to prevent him selling his cattle. -But if ever again he meets that dark stranger on the black horse, he -is determined to try the strength of his shillelagh on his head, were -he ever such a grand man among the fairies. For at least he might have -left him the velvet suit; and it was a shabby thing to take it away -just when he couldn’t help himself, and had fallen down from fair -weakness and exhaustion after all the dancing, and the wine he drank at -supper, when the lovely ladies poured it out for him with their little -hands covered with jewels. - -It was truly a bad and shabby trick, as Jemmy said to himself that May -morning, when he stood up from under the hay-rick; and just shows us -never to trust the fairies, for with all their sweet words and pleasant -ways and bright red wine, they are full of malice and envy and deceit, -and are always ready to ruin a poor fellow and then laugh at him, just -for fun, and for the spite and jealousy they have against the human -race. - - -SHEELA-NA-SKEAN. - - -There is an old ruin of a farmhouse in the County Cork, near Fermoy, -that has an evil reputation, and no one would build it up or inhabit it. - -Years and years ago a rich farmer lived there, who was reputed to have -hoards of gold hid away in his sleeping-room. Some said he never slept -without the sack of gold being laid under his pillow. However, one -night he was found cruelly murdered, and all the gold in the house was -missing except a few pieces stained with blood, that had evidently been -dropped by the murderers in their flight. - -The old man at the time was living quite alone. His wife was dead, and -his only son was away in a distant part of the country. But on news -of the murder the son returned, and a close investigation was made. -Suspicion finally fell on the housekeeper and a lover she used to bring -to the house. They were arrested in consequence and brought to trial. -The housekeeper, _Sheela-na-Skean_, or Sheela of the Knife, as she was -called afterwards, was a dark, fierce, powerful woman, noted for her -violent and vindictive temper. The lover was a weak, cowardly fellow, -who at the last turned evidence to save his life. He had taken no part, -he said, in the actual murder, though he had helped Sheela to remove -and bury the gold. According to his story, Sheela entered the old man’s -room at night, and taking a sharp short sword that always hung at the -head of his bed, she stabbed him fiercely over and over till not a -breath of life was left. Then, calling her lover, they ransacked the -room, and found quantities of golden guineas, which they put in a bag -and carried out to the field, where they buried it in a safe spot, -known only to themselves; but this place neither Sheela nor the lover -would reveal unless they received a pardon. - -The murder, however, was too atrocious for pardon, and Sheela was hung -amid the howlings and execrations of the people. But she remained -fierce and defiant to the last, still refusing obstinately to reveal -the place where the money was buried. - -The lover, meanwhile, had died in prison from fright, for after -sentence was pronounced, he fell down in a fit, from which he never -recovered. So the secret of the gold died with them. - -After this the son came to live in the place; and the tradition of the -hidden gold was still kept alive in the family, but all efforts to find -it proved useless. - -Now a strange thing happened. The farmer dreamed for three nights in -succession that if he went at midnight to an old ruined castle in the -neighbourhood, he would hear words that might tell him the secret of -the gold; but he must go alone. So after the third dream the farmer -resolved to do as he was ordered, and he went forth at midnight to the -place indicated. His two sons, grown-up young men, anxiously awaited -his return. And about an hour after midnight the father came home -pale as a ghost, haggard and trembling. They helped him to his bed, -and after a little he was able to tell them his adventures. He said, -on reaching the old ruin he leaned up straight against the wall, and -waited for the promised words in silence. Then a breath seemed to pass -over his face, and he heard a low voice whispering in his ear— - -“If you want to find the bag of gold, take out the third stone.” - -“But here,” said the farmer mournfully, “the voice stopped before the -place was named where the gold lay; for at that instant a terrific -screech was heard, and the ghost of Sheela appeared gigantic and -terrible; her hands dripping with blood, and her eyes flaming fire; -and she rushed to attack me, brandishing a short, sharp sword round -her head, the very same, perhaps, with which she had committed the -murder. At sight of this awful apparition I fled homeward, Sheela still -pursuing me with leaps and yells till I reached the boundary of the -castle grounds, when she sank into the earth and disappeared. But,” -continued the farmer, “I am certain, from the voice, that the bag of -gold lies hid under the third stone in——” - -He could say no more, for at that instant the door of the bedroom was -violently flung open, as if by a strong storm wind, the candle was -blown out, and the unfortunate man was lifted from his bed by invisible -hands, and dashed upon the floor with a terrible crash. In the darkness -the young men could hear the groans, but they saw no one. - -When the candle was relit they went over to help their father, but -found he was already dead, with a black mark round his throat as if -from strangulation by a powerful hand. So the secret of the gold -remained still undiscovered. - -After the funeral was over, and all affairs settled, the brothers -agreed that they would still search for the gold in the old ruins of -the castle, undeterred by the apparition of the terrible Sheela. So -on a certain midnight they set forth with spades and big sticks for -defence, and proceeded to examine every third stone in the huge walls, -to the height of a man from the ground, seeking some secret mark or -sign by which, perhaps, the true stone might be discovered. But as they -worked, a thin blue light suddenly appeared at some distance in the -inner court of the castle, and by it stood the ghost of their father, -pointing with his outstretched hand to a certain stone in the wall. -Now, they thought, that must certainly be the spot where the gold is -hid; and they rushed on; but before they could reach the place, the -terrible form of Sheela appeared, more awful than words could describe, -clothed in white, and with a circle of flame round her head. And -she seized the ghost with her gory hands, and dragged him away with -horrible yells and imprecations. And far off in the darkness they could -hear the fight going on, and the yells of Sheela as she pursued the -ghost. - -“Now,” said the young men, “let us work while they are fighting;” -and they worked away at the third stone from the end, where the blue -light had rested—a large flat stone, but easily lifted; and when they -had rolled it away from the place, there underneath lay a huge bag -of bright golden guineas. And as they raised it up from the earth, a -terrific unearthly din was heard in the distance, and a shrill scream -rang on the air. Then a rush of the wind came by them and the blue -light vanished, but they heeded nothing, only lifted the bag from the -clay, and carried it away with them through the darkness and storm. -And the yells seemed to pursue them till they reached the boundary of -the castle grounds, then all was still; and they traversed the rest of -the way in peace, and reached home safely. - -From that time the ghost of _Sheela-na-Skean_ ceased to haunt the -castle, but lamenting and cries used sometimes to be heard at night -in and around the old farmhouse; so the brothers pulled it down and -left it a ruin, and built a handsome residence with some of their -treasure; for now they had plenty of gold, and they lived happily and -prospered ever after, with all their family and possessions. And on -the spot where the gold was found they erected a cross, in memory of -their father, to whom they owed all their wealth, and through whom this -prosperity had come; for by him the evil spirit of _Sheela-na-Skean_ -was conquered at last, and the gold restored to the family of the -murdered farmer. - - -CAPTAIN WEBB, THE ROBBER CHIEF. - - -About a hundred years ago a most notorious robber, called Captain Webb, -used to make the County Mayo his headquarters; and dreadful tales are -still current amongst the people of his deeds of violence and cruelty. - -Many beautiful young girls he carried off by force or fraud; and when -he grew tired of them it was his practice to strip the unhappy victims -naked, and plunge them down a deep hole near Lough Corrib, which is -still known throughout the county as “Captain Webb’s Hole.” - -One day, however, fate worked out a revenge on the audacious highwayman -by the hands of a woman. - -He had committed a daring robbery on the highroad—plundered a carriage, -shot the horses, and carried off a noble and lovely girl, who was -returning home with her mother from an entertainment, which had been -given by a great lord in the vicinity. Consequently, as the robber -knew, the ladies were dressed magnificently, and wore the most costly -jewels. After stripping the mother of all her ornaments, he left her -half dead upon the highway; but wrapping a cloak round the young lady, -Captain Webb flung her on the horse before him and galloped off to one -of the many hiding-places he had through the country. - -For some time he gave up all his other favourites for the sake of -the beautiful girl, and carried her about with him on all his wild -expeditions, so great was the madness of his love for her. - -But at length he grew tired even of her beauty, and resolved to get -rid of her, in the same way as he had got rid of the others, by a cruel -and sudden death. - -So one day, when she was out riding beside him, as he always forced her -to do, he brought her to the fatal hole where so many of his victims -had perished, intending to cast her down headlong as he had done to so -many others; but first he told her to dismount and to take off all her -rich garments of silk and gold and her jewels, for she would need them -no longer. - -“For pity, then,” she said, “do not look on me while I undress, for it -is not seemly or right to look on a woman undressing; but turn your -back and I shall unclasp my robe and fling it off.” - -So the captain turned his back as she desired him, for he could not -refuse her last request; but still he kept close to the edge of the -hole ready to throw her in; when suddenly she sprang upon him, and -placing both hands on his shoulders, pushed him over the edge down into -the fathomless gulf, from which no mortal ever rose alive, and in this -manner the country was freed for evermore from the terrible robber -fiend, by the courage of a brave and beautiful girl. - - -THE MAYO ROBBER AND FEENISH THE MARE. - - -Another desperate character that made an evil reputation in the same -county was Captain Macnamara. Though a man of family and good means -and of splendid appearance, he led a life of the wildest excess, and -stopped at no crime so as he could gratify the passion or the caprice -of the moment, or find money to spend on his pleasures, with the -reckless, senseless, foolish extravagance of an evil, dissolute nature; -for he had early squandered away all his own patrimony, and now only -lived by fraud, lying, and insolent contempt of the rights and claims -of others. - -Just at the time when his finances were at the lowest, he was summoned -to attend his trial at the county assizes for some malpractices -concerning land and stock belonging to a wealthy widow lady, who had a -fine place in the neighbourhood, though she seldom lived there, being -constantly abroad, in Paris or Rome, with her only son, a young lad, -the heir of the property. It happened, however, that she returned home -just in time for the trial, which interested her, as it concerned an -audacious appropriation of some of her best land from which the stock -had been drawn off and sold by Macnamara. Highly indignant at the -insult offered to her, the wealthy widow appeared in court resolved -on vengeance; and was received by all the officials with the utmost -distinction and deference. The defendant was put through a most -torturing examination, in which all his evil practices were laid bare -with ruthless severity. But the widow heeded nothing of the record of -wicked deeds; she only saw before her a splendid stalwart man in the -prime of life, with a magnificent presence, flashing eyes, and raven -hair. At once she was subjugated, as if by magic, by the handsome -prisoner in the dock, and calling over her counsel, she gave orders -that the suit should be stopped and no damages claimed. After this, as -was natural, a warm intimacy sprang up between plaintiff and defendant, -which ended in a short time by the marriage of the rich widow and -the spendthrift captain; the widow’s only son and heir to the estate -being brought home from school to live with them, for, as the captain -observed, it was necessary that the boy should be early instructed in -the management of the property. - -One evening, however, Macnamara set a rope across a lonely part of the -road where he knew the lad must pass when riding home. In consequence -the horse stumbled, and threw the rider; and at night when the servants -and people went out with torches to look for the young heir, he was -found lying quite dead by the roadside. - -The whole property now devolved to the widow, who gave up the -management entirely to Macnamara; and he lost no time in making -good use of the large sums of money that came under his control, by -constantly plunging into renewed courses of dissolute extravagance. -How the home life went on no one knew, for little was seen of the wife -while the husband carried on his orgies; but after a year had passed -by, the country heard with surprise of the death of the rich widow, -as she was still called—suddenly, it was said, by a fit, a stroke. -She was found lying dead in her bed one morning, and her husband was -in the greatest grief—this was the orthodox narrative. But strange -whispers at the same time went through the neighbourhood, that round -the neck of the poor dear lady was found a black mark, and many had -grave suspicions of foul play, though they feared to take any measures -against the captain, so great was the terror he inspired. - -Meantime, he consoled himself with another wife, a young girl who had -been a favourite of his long before his first wife’s death. And they -led a reckless life together till all the widow’s money was gambled -away or spent in dissolute frolics. Then he joined a wild band of -sharpers and desperadoes who fought and cheated every one at the fairs -and races, and were the terror of the whole country. But, especially -they warred upon the Big Joyces of Connemara, who thereupon swore to be -revenged. - -Now the captain had a famous mare called _Feenish_, who could fly like -the wind and live for days without food. And he taught her all sorts -of strange tricks—to stand on her hind legs, to go in at a window and -to walk upstairs; and the way the robber chief got the secret of power -over men and animals was in this wise. - -There was an old raven lived near him up in a big tree, and one day -Macnamara stole the eggs, took them home, boiled them and then set them -back again in the nest, to see what the old bird would do. Now he saw -the wisdom of the raven, for she flew off at once to a neighbouring -mountain, and having found a certain stone of magic virtue carried it -back in her beak to the nest. With this stone she rubbed the eggs all -over, till the life came back into them; and in due time the young -ravens were flying about as strong and joyous as the rest. - -Macnamara having observed this process, watched his opportunity, and -one day when the raven was absent, he stole the magic stone from the -nest. His first trial of the power was to rub himself all over, as he -had seen the raven do with the eggs; and with a very remarkable result, -for he at once became possessed of marvellous gifts. He could foresee -events, and force people to do his will: he knew when danger was near, -and what path to take to avoid his enemies when they were on his track. -Then he rubbed Feenish, the mare, all over, and instantly she became as -wise as a Christian, and knew every word that was said to her. - -So Macnamara, armed with all these new powers, went on with his wild -wicked life, and robbed and plundered worse than ever; and the blood of -many a man, besides, was on his hands. - -At last the Joyce faction resolved to make an end of the audacious -robber, and all the Big Joyces of Connemara gathered in force and -pursued him from place to place and over bog and mountain through half -the country. At one time Macnamara plunged into a bog; where Feenish -lost her four shoes; then he made her swim the river at Cong after a -hard day’s ride through mountain passes; but when the poor mare got to -the other side she fell down dead, to the great grief of the robber -chief, who had her buried on an island in Lough Corrib that still bears -her name—Innis-Feenish. However, when he had laid his faithful friend -in the clay, all energy forsook him, and all his good luck departed—his -riches melted away, his children squandered his property, and his two -sons met a violent death; finally, broken in spirit, beggared, and -alone in the world, the last of his race, he found himself with nothing -left of his ill-gotten gains except an old grey pony. On this animal -he rode to Cork, where he took his passage in an emigrant ship to -America, and sailed away from the old country, laden with the curses -of all who had ever known him; and from that hour he was heard of no -more. So ended the wicked career of the spendthrift and gambler and the -suspected murderer of many victims. - - - - - SKETCHES OF THE IRISH PAST. - - -THE BARDIC RACE. - - -The magi, the Sephoe, the gymnosophists, and the Irish adepts, held -much the same creed and the same dogmas with regard to the conduct of -life necessary to heighten the spiritual power. They all abstained from -animal food at such times as the rush of inspiration was on them and -the madness of prophetic rage; and at all times they favoured solitude, -living apart in the House of Learning or Bardic College, where they -admitted no obtrusive intimacies with lower intellects to disturb -their lofty and exalted moods of thought. The means, also, by which -they obtained mastery over diseases and the minds of men, with the -strange and subtle use they made of herbs, were all kept secret amongst -themselves; for they held that the prying eyes of shallow unbelievers -should never be suffered to intrude upon the sacred mysteries. And it -is certain that the bards possessed strange and mystic powers of wisdom -beyond and above all other men. It was therefore very dangerous to -offend a poet. If any one refused him a request he would take the lobe -of the person’s ear and grind it between his fingers, and the man would -die. Yet the bards were capable of much human emotion, and were the -sweet singers of sympathy when sorrow touched a household. - -The following elegy from the Irish, written about two hundred years ago -by the Ard-Filé, or chief poet of the tribe, has many natural, pathetic -touches, and when chanted in Irish to the harp had power to melt the -hearts of all the hearers to tears. - -AN ELEGY. - - O Boyne, once famed for battles, sports, and conflicts, - And great heroes of the race of Conn, - Art thou grey after all thy blooms? - O aged old woman of grey-green pools, - O wretched Boyne of many tears. - - Where is the glory of thy sires? - The glory of Art with the swift arrow; - Of Meiltan, with the swift-darting spears - Of the lordly race of the O’Neil? - To thee belonged red victory, - When the Fenian wrath was kindled, - And the heroes in thousands rode to war, - And the bridles clanked on the steeds. - - O river of kings and the sons of kings, - Of the swift bark and the silver fish, - I lay my blessing on thee with my tears, - For thou art the watcher by a grave— - My treasures lie in the earth at thy side— - O Boyne of many tears. - - My sons lie there in their strength, - My little daughter in her beauty— - Rory, and Brian, and Rose— - These have I given against my will, - My blood, my heart, my bone and kin, - My love and my life, to the grave. - - The blessing of men was on them, - The blessings of thousands that loved them, - From Kells of the Crosses to Drogheda— - Eight thousand blessings to Dowth of the Trees. - Peace be on the earth where they lie! - By the royal stream of the kings, - In the land of the great O’Neil. - -The Bardic song amongst all nations was the first expression of the -human soul, with all its strong, passionate emotions and heroic -impulses. It is remarkable that, although several invasions of Ireland -are on record, yet but one language seems to have existed there from -the earliest times down to the coming of the Anglo-Normans in the -twelfth century. The Bards held it as their peculiar duty to raise -this language to the highest perfection, and the laws of Celtic -poetry, especially, were most elaborate and the structure of the verse -exceedingly difficult. Ten years of study were allowed the students at -the Druids’ College to gain perfection in the art, and also to practise -the memory; for at the royal festivals the Ard-Filé was expected to -recite fully and perfectly whatever heroic tale might be called for by -the king at the banquet. On great occasions also, when the meeting was -held in the open air, the chiefs sat round in a circle on mounds of -turf, to the accompaniment of the harp, the chorus joining in the while -the bards, standing in the centre, recited the heroic narrative lyrical -portions at intervals, and a circle of harpists at the outermost -ring of the assemblage introduced occasional symphonies of pure -instrumental music to give the bards time for rest between the parts of -the recitation. - -There were three chief measures in music in use amongst the poets—“the -Sorrowful,” or the chant for the dead; “the Delightful,” reserved -for dances and festivities; and “the Reposing,” devoted entirely to -love sonnets and the plaintive softness of lyrical expression. But -the _Ross-Catha_, or battle-hymn, was the great war-song to which the -warriors marched to battle, and which inspired them with the heroic -madness that braved death for victory. - -Everything connected with the bards is interesting. They were so -gifted, so learned, and so beautiful. For even genius was not -considered enough, without beauty, to warrant a young man being -enrolled in the ranks of the poets. A noble, stately presence was -indispensable, and the poet was required not only to be gifted, but -to be handsome. Then he was promoted through all the grades until he -reached the last and highest, called “The Wisdom of the Gods,” but -the knowledge then acquired by the initiated was kept sacred from the -crowd, and the adept swore by the sun, the stars, and the hosts of -heaven never to reveal the mysteries acquired by his initiation, to the -profane. - -The high-born maidens amongst the noble families were also trained by -the Druids in poetry and music, and in the exercise of the chase, such -as archery and throwing the lance, to give their bodies health, vigour -and beauty, while those endowed with peculiar intellect were admitted -into the bardic orders, and became the priestess, prophetess, or -poetess of the tribe; who inspired men by her eloquence and had power -by her incantations over the deep mysteries of life. Such was Eodain, -the chief poetess of Erin, the guide and inspirer of Eugene, the king -of the South, the prophetess of her nation, who saved him and his -kingdom from ruin by her wisdom, and redeemed him by her counsels from -his dissolute and evil life. - - -THE ANCIENT RACE. - - -But thousands of years ago, long before kings, bards, and Druids, with -all their learning and comparative civilization, flourished in Ireland, -and before the traditions of a beautiful fairy race were brought from -the far East by a people accustomed to the sight of beauty, grace and -splendour, an ancient race existed in the world—a mysterious, primitive -wave of human life that spread over all Europe, perhaps over all the -earth, and even surged upon the shores of our own Western island; -possibly a pre-Adamic race, inferior in all points, physical as well -as mental, to the Adamic race that succeeded them. - -They have left no name or history, yet evidences of their nature, -habits, intellect, and modes of life can be scientifically deduced from -the abundant strange and curious antiquarian remains to be seen in -the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, of which Sir William Wilde in -his illustrated catalogue has given such a perfect and comprehensive -description. Records of a period so remote that the use of metals even -was unknown; yet these ancient records reveal the story of the rude -half-developed, early humanity of the world in as clear a symbol to the -expert and the archæologist, as if written in alphabetical letters on -monoliths, like those of Babylon. - -Without, therefore, being forced into shadowy theory or nebular -hypothesis, we may readily construct the whole life of the primitive -man, his mode of being and doing, of dressing and of eating, of living, -dying and sepulture, simply from the rude implements fashioned by his -hand that cover the walls of the Academy, and are the letters in which -an eternal page of human history is written. - -But, this first pre-Adamic rudimental humanity was not wholly -extirpated by the subsequent Adamic race. Representatives of them still -remained throughout the world, and are yet existing, though these -half-souled specimens of an early, inferior humanity, are gradually -dying out and disappearing before the advance of the higher Adamic -race, the destined lords and rulers of earth. - -In Ireland the inferior primitive tribes became the bond-slaves for -the higher humanity—the Tuatha-de-Dananns and Milesians that succeeded -them; and specimens of this slave people can still be seen in remote -districts in Ireland along the coast-line of the West, and in the -secluded mountain passes. They are held in much contempt by the -descendants of the nobler race, and are stigmatized even now as “the -slave people,” and the bondsmen of their forefathers. - -It seems, then, an incontrovertible truth that the early inhabitants -of Ireland, as of all Europe—in fact, the whole pre-Adamite humanity -of the world—lived and died throughout how many ages we know not in a -state little higher than the animal creation, without the knowledge of -even the simplest elements of civilization, which all the Adamic races -possess, from their higher organization and intellect, and which they -seem to have had from the date of their earliest appearance on earth. - -The clothing of the primitive man was of the skins of animals fastened -with thongs, or tunics made of rushes, such as were found some years -ago in Spain, on the skeleton forms of pre-historic date buried in a -cave of the Sierra Nevada. Their only weapons and tools were of stone, -manufactured by another stone. Their ornaments were of shells and -fish-bones; and their dwellings such only as instinct has suggested to -all animals. - -There are abundant evidences in our National Museum to prove the -existence of this primary stratum of barbarism underlying all the -culture of modern Europe; and we might almost hesitate to link so low -a type of humanity with our own if we did not recognize in it also the -characteristic instinct of man, entirely wanting in the animals—an -irrepressible tendency towards progression and improvement, and, above -all, to ornamentation, which is a distinctive human quality. - - -THE ANTIQUITIES OF IRELAND. - - -We commence the study of this early race with the first rude stone -implement with which a savage man killed an animal scarcely more -savage. Then, simple designs of ornamentation are discernible—the first -twilight dawning of soul through matter. The rude stone implement -becomes decorated, more symmetrical in form, more adapted to its -uses. There is evidence of a growing sense of beauty, and heightened -reasoning powers. After the introduction of metals, we trace the -original stone forms reproduced first in simple unalloyed copper, -afterwards in that perfect and beautiful bronze of a ruddy yellow, -like gold, which no modern bronze has ever equalled. There is no -violent disruption of ideas, as if the new incoming race had entirely -vanquished and crushed the earlier and elder; but on the contrary, a -gradual and continuous development of the original ideas of this elder -race itself, always co-working with whatever new influences may have -come to it from without. - -Many writers have held the belief that the first colonists of Ireland -were a highly-civilized people, clothed with Tyrian silk, fine linen -of Egypt, and adorned with costly ornaments of gold. But stern facts -refute this theory. The same primitive race who used only stone weapons -were unacquainted with the art of weaving, and knew of no other garment -than the untanned skin of the animal they killed for food. Theorists -might still, however, argue, doubt, and disbelieve, if one of the -ancient race had not himself risen, as it were, from the grave, after -a sleep of thousands of years, to give his testimony concerning his -people. In 1821 this primitive Irishman, clad completely in skins laced -with thongs, was found in a peat bog, ten feet below the surface. The -teeth, long dark hair and beard, were perfect. Portions of this dress -have been preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy. The -material used in sewing was fine gut, and the regularity and closeness -of the stitching are most remarkable. Specimens of the antique skin -mocassins and skin caps have been also found at various times in the -peat bogs, and secured for the Museum, so that we have the dress of the -ancient Irishman complete. - -Long after this period of barbarism, but still at a time so distant -that it is anterior to all historic record, we find that the Irish -had attained some knowledge of metals and the art of weaving. The -Museum contains numerous highly-finished illustrations of the -beautifully-formed, slender, leaf-shaped swords and daggers of bronze, -which began gradually to supersede the use of the primitive celt. -Many of these swords are of the pure Grecian type, formed apparently -on the model of the leaf of the aloe or the agave. One sword found -on an ancient battle-field is curved like a Turkish yataghan; and in -“The Book of Rights” “curved swords of battle” are frequently referred -to. But the specimens of the broad scythe-shaped sword, “which is -especially and peculiarly Irish,” are the most numerous, as many as -forty-one of these heavy, thick, round-pointed battle-axe swords being -in the Museum. - -The same progress of artistic development is observable in the ancient -swords as was noticed in the primitive celt—as the art advanced, the -manufacturer began to exercise his artistic faculties in fanciful and -costly decoration. The blade was adorned with either cast or engraved -ornamentation, and the hilt inlaid or studded with gold. Thus, Brian -Boroimhe is described as carrying a gold-hilted sword in his right hand -at the battle of Clontarf. - -It is very remarkable that, throughout the whole series, from the -rudest to the most highly finished, a peculiar idea is traceable in -the ornamentation, by which they can at once be recognized as Irish; -and this idea seems to have travelled from Irish Paganism to Irish -Christianism. The ornamentation on the sepulchral stones of New Grange -is repeated on the stone celts; it is carried on into the age of -Bronze; it decorated the swords and spears of the kings, as well as -their costly diadems and ornaments of gold, and still continued to be -traced, with a kind of loving fidelity to the ancient symbols, upon the -manuscripts illuminated by priestly hands, so late as the tenth and -eleventh centuries. - -For the illustration of the costume of the early Irish, after it passed -from primitive helpless barbarism to comparative civilization, by the -aid of the knowledge of metals and the art of weaving, fortunately -we are not left to mere theories; for, by a singular chance, the -representative of the advanced period, like him of the barbaric age, -arises also from the grave of the Past to bear witness for himself. - -In 1824, a male body, completely clad in woollen antique garments, was -found in a bog near Sligo, six feet below the surface; and so perfect -was the body when first discovered, that a magistrate was called upon -to hold an inquest on it. The garments also were in such complete -preservation, that a photograph was made of a person clad in this -antique suit, with the exception of the shoes, which were too small -for an adult of our day, and a drawing from this photograph is one of -the best and most beautifully executed illustrations of the Museum -catalogue. The costume of this ancient Irish gentleman is exceedingly -picturesque, consisting of trews of a plaid pattern, made wide above, -like Turkish trousers, but fitting close to the leg and ankle; over -them was a tunic of soft cloth, most elaborately gored and gussetted, -showing high perfection in the tailoring art. The skirt of the tunic, -which extends to the knee, is set on full, and measures eight feet in -circumference at the bottom. The sleeves are tight, and open to the -elbow, like an Albanian jacket; and over all was thrown the immemorial -Irish mantle, so invariably worn, so indispensable a portion of Irish -costume that it passed into a proverb among our neighbours, the Welsh, -“like an Irishman for the cloak.” - -This graceful garment, as found upon the hero of the bog, and now -visible in our Museum, is composed of brown, soft cloth, made straight -on the upper edge, which is nine feet long, but cut nearly into the -segment of a circle on the lower. The form resembles closely that worn -by the Calabrian peasant at this day. These cloaks were often of great -value; kings were paid tribute of them. They were made of various -colours, each colour being a symbol to denote the rank of the wearer. -The number of colours also in a dress had a significant value, and was -regulated by law. Thus, one colour only was allowed to slaves; two for -soldiers; three for goodly heroes, or young lords; six for the learned -men; five for a poetess; and seven was the regal number for kings and -queens. - -In the “Book of Rights,” the earliest accessible authority on the -subject of costume prior to the Norman Invasion, we read of cloaks of -various colours presented in tribute to the kings—cloaks of purple, -red cloaks, green, white, black; in fact, cloaks of all colours. Some -are mentioned as bordered with gold. The tunic is also described -frequently, “with golden borders—with gold ornaments—with golden hems.” -Another form of cloak was fashioned with a hood like the Arab bornous, -and was bordered with a deep fringe of goat’s hairs. - -Irish costume seems, in fact, to have been half-Oriental, -half-Northern, like the compound race that peopled the island. The -trews were the same as the Germanic _braccœ_; while the tunic was -Albanian, and the mantle Eastern; as well as the high, conical -head-dress, which is identical in form with the Persian cap of the -present day. On this subject Sir William Wilde remarks— - -“Every day’s observation and research bring to light new affinities -with early Irish costume. In the great French work, ‘Herculaneum et -Pompeii,’ there is a battle scene, copied from a mosaic at Pompeii, in -which the arms and dress of the combatants are almost identical with -those of ancient Ireland. The vanquished wear tight-fitting trousers, -close tunics, several of which are plaided, and cloaks with the hood -coming over the head precisely like the Irish cochall. The chief -figures wear torques round the neck, and bracelets on the wrists, and -the hood is retained in its place by a narrow frontlet, apparently -of gold. The colours of the garments are also peculiarly Irish. In -some, the cloak is yellow; the mantle, dark red; and the tunic, purple -bordered with white; the latter spangled with triple stars of gold, -precisely after the fashion figured in the ‘Book of Kells.’ The chariot -in which the principal figure stands resembles some figured on our -ancient crosses, and the charioteer wears a pointed cap, green tunic, -and tartan vest. All the vanquished wear beards, and their hoods -envelop their chins.” - -The study of ancient costume has especial interest for the historian, -as the culture, civilization, and commercial relations of a people -can be readily deduced from it; and in the numerous and curious -illustrations of the catalogue, taken from ancient records, illuminated -manuscripts, and the ancient crosses and sepulchral monuments of the -country, everything has been brought together that could throw light on -this obscure subject. One most remarkable illustration is a full-length -portrait of Dermot M’Morrough, king of Leinster, taken from an -illuminated copy of Giraldus Cambrensis in the possession of Sir Thomas -Philips, which portrait was very probably drawn from the life. - -From all that is known on the subject, it would appear that linen and -cloth of every degree of fineness, according to the rank of the wearer, -were the principal materials used in ancient Irish dress. No remains -of silk garments have been discovered; nor do the historical records, -as far as we are aware, make any mention of silk being employed in -personal wear. It is remarkable also, that while a traditional belief -exists that linen has been known from time immemorial to Ireland, -yet the Academy does not possess a single specimen of ancient linen. -The linen shirts worn at the time of the Norman Invasion are said to -have been of immense size, and dyed a saffron colour. But there is -undeniable proof, that the tartan, or cloth of divers colours, which we -are accustomed to associate only with Scotland, was worn universally -in Ireland in ancient times. Portions of tartans are preserved in -the Museum, and probably each grade of rank and clan possessed a -characteristic plaid as well as a special dress. A love of variegated -and glowing colours, and a tendency to gorgeous decoration, seem to -have been always instinctive to the Irish nature. - -The female dress of Ireland at a period subsequent to the barbaric age -is also illustrated not from conjecture, but from actual observation; -for in 1843 a complete female antique dress was discovered many -feet below the surface in a bog (these museums of Nature, where she -stores up and preserves her specimens of antique life with a care and -perfection that no mortal curator can ever hope to equal), and is now -to be seen in the Academy’s museum. - -It consists of a boddice with a long waist, open in front, and attached -to a full plaited skirt; which, like the Albanian fustanell, consists -of several narrow gored breadths, gathered into small plaits at top, -and spreading into a broad quilling at the bottom; each plait being -stitched on the inside to preserve the form. - -The bottom of the skirt measures twenty-two and a half feet in -circumference, and there are ninety-two plaits, most elaborately -arranged, so that the joining of each of the narrow breadths should -fall within a plait. The material is of a brown woollen cloth. - -No pictorial representations exist of female costume earlier than the -fourteenth or fifteenth centuries but from the sculptured effigies -on tombs, we find it consisted of either a flowing robe and veil, or -of the plaited skirt and tight boddice already described, while the -head-dress varied according to the fashion of the day. - -The subject of personal decoration is perfectly illustrated in -the Museum; the Academy possessing one of the largest collections -in Europe, beginning at the first rude effort at adornment of the -barbaric age, up to the rich golden ornaments of a later, though still -pre-historic period. - -It is not pleasant to national pride, after feeding on the gorgeous -fables of our earliest annalists, to contemplate the primitive Irishman -fastening his mantle of untanned deerskin with a fish-bone or a thorn, -as we know the Germans did in the time of Tacitus; yet, unhappily, -antiquarian research will not allow us to doubt the fact of the simple -savageness of the first colonists. But when the intellect of the rude -man stirred within him, he began to carve the bones of the animals he -killed into articles of ornament and use. Thus the slender bones of -fowls were fashioned into cloak pins, especially the leg bone, where -the natural enlargement at one end suggested the form, and afforded -surface for artistic display. From this first rude essay of the -child-man can be traced the continuous development of his ideas in -decorative art, from the carving of bones to the casting of metal, up -to the most elaborate working in enamel, gold, and precious stones. -Our Museum is rich in these objects, containing more than five hundred -specimens. Pins, fibulæ,[10] and brooches having been discovered -in Ireland in immense quantities and variety, some of which are -unsurpassed for beauty of design and workmanship. - - [10] This word “fibulæ” is a heathenish and imported term, quite - foreign to the Irish tongue. There is no other word known in the Irish - language to designate a brooch, be it of bone or be it of gold, than - _Dealg_, which signifies a thorn. - -“In these articles,” Sir William remarks, “the process of development -is displayed in a most remarkable manner; for, from the simple -unadorned pin or spike of copper, bronze or brass (the metallic -representation of the thorn), to the most elaborately wrought -ring-brooch of precious metal, the patterns of which are now used by -our modern jewellers—every stage of art, both in form and handicraft, -is clearly defined, not one single link is wanting. In the first stage -all the artist’s powers were lavished on the decoration of the pin -itself, or in the development of the head, which was enlarged and -decorated into every possible shape and conceivable pattern. When it -was almost impossible to improve the head, a ring or loop was added, -passed through a hole in the neck. In the next stage, the ring was -doubled, or many rings added. Finally, the ring was enlarged, flattened -out, decorated, enamelled, covered with filigree, and jewelled, until, -in those magnificent specimens of silver and gold found in Ireland of -late years, it reached a degree of perfection which modern art can with -difficulty imitate.” - -The forms of many of the Irish brooches, pins, and fibulæ, are -identical with numbers found in Scandinavia, but the peculiar -ornamentation—a curiously involved spiral or serpent coil, which -can be traced back through all ages of Irish art to the most remote -antiquity—is met nowhere else; neither in Etruscan nor Teutonic art, -though some assert its origin can be traced to Assyria and Egypt. -However, this _Opus Hibernicum_, as it was termed by the learned -Kemble, is one of the tests by which an antiquary can distinguish -national from imported work. It is also remarkable that the ornaments -of like form found so copiously in Scandinavia are all of bronze, while -the Irish are of gold, a metal which, there is every reason to believe, -existed in Ireland abundantly in former times, and is still found in -small quantities. That it was used for ornament, even coeval with the -stone celt, is also probable, as the rudest savage can make the ductile -metal assume any form by simply flattening it between two stones. - -Many centuries before the Christian era, according to the annals, gold -was smelted in Wicklow, to the east of the Liffey. Goblets and brooches -were covered with it, and the artificer’s name was Ucadan; but no -further mention of native gold occurs throughout our ancient histories. -However, two thousand years after, the story of the old annalist was -singularly confirmed; for, in the year 1796, in the same part of -Wicklow, perhaps on the very site of the furnace of Ucadan, upwards -of £10,000 worth of native gold was obtained in about two months, and -small quantities have been gathered there from time to time ever since. - -The subject of the gold antiquities is one full of interest, and even -of mystery. The quantity of antique manufactured gold ornaments dug -up in Ireland, even in recent times, has been estimated as exceeding -half a million of money. As much more may be lying beneath our feet, -for, every year, as new cuttings are made for railroads, or bogs are -drained, deposits of gold ornaments come to light. Two or three years -ago a deposit of massive gold bracelets, in value nearly £5,000, as -bright and beautiful as if just finished, was dug up in Carlow; and, -still more recently, several antique golden frontlets were found by a -labourer while working in a field, who, utterly unconscious of their -value, threw them to his children, and the author of the Catalogue -actually discovered, one day, the son of the man cutting them up into -nose-rings for his pigs. They were happily rescued, and are now in the -Academy. The form is beautiful and classic; it is a half-moon diadem, -resembling accurately some seen in Etruscan sculpture. - -What inestimable treasures may have been thus lost! not merely from -ignorance, but also from cupidity; for numbers of gold articles have -disappeared in the smelting-pot of the jewellers, who bought them -from the country people at perhaps a fractional part of their value. -The very small annual sum allowed to the Academy by Government is -another cause why the work of destruction still goes on. Valuable -gold ornaments are frequently offered there for sale—too valuable, -unhappily, for the Academy to purchase, and with an indignant regret -that is almost like a sense of shame, the members are obliged to leave -them to their fate. Of course legislation could remedy all this, as it -has done in Denmark, where the State has secured the possession of all -antiquities found in the country for the National Museum, without any -wrong being done to the finder, who is paid the full value of all he -brings. But in Denmark there is a strong national pride in the subject, -and the peasant, who is early taught by the local authorities the value -of such things, would as soon think of destroying an antiquity as of -burning his Bible. - -It is still a question among the learned whether this enormous amount -of manufactured gold, far exceeding all yet discovered in England and -Scandinavia, was altogether native, or to some extent imported. An -analysis of some of the gold has been made, to test the identity of its -constituents with the gold of Wicklow, and in the instance selected -the gold was found similar. This fact and the ornamentation are proofs -to uphold the native theory: while opponents state that they came in -the way of commerce from the Carthaginians who traded here. Ornaments -identical with the Irish in form—the twisted torques, the bracelets, -the diadems, and frontlets, having been found in the interior of -Africa, and along the Gold Coast; in India, Barbary, Spain, and the -islands of the Mediterranean. - -Several ancient Irish musical instruments, the chief of which were the -harp and trumpet, and numerous fragments of harps have been found also -in the oldest crannoges, proving how ancient was the knowledge and the -practice of music in Ireland—a fact confirmed by the Welsh Annals, -which state that the Irish surpassed all nations in their proficiency -on the harp. - -The Museum possesses sixteen antique bronze trumpets, one of which—the -finest specimen yet found in Europe—measures about eight feet in -length, and the joining is curiously riveted with metal studs, a -fact proving its antiquity, as it must have been formed in an age -unacquainted with the art of soldering. With regard to coins, Sir -William Wilde utterly denies that bronze ring-money was ever used in -Ireland, as stated by Sir William Betham, who borrowed his idea from -Vallancy: for all the articles hitherto described as ring-money, are -now proved undeniably to belong to chain-dress or armour. The ancient -medium of barter seems to have been so many head of cattle, or so -many ounces of gold. A native coinage was utterly unknown. The amount -of bronze discovered in Ireland is enormous, and proves the long -duration of a period when it was in general use, before iron was known. -Specimens of every object necessary to a people’s life have been found -fabricated of it—weapons, tools, armour, swords, and spears; culinary -vessels, caldrons, spoons, and other minor requisites; hair-pins for -the flowing locks of the women; brooches for the graceful mantles of -the chiefs, but not of the dark, dingy, modern compound that bears -the name. Irish antique bronze was a metal of bright, glowing, golden -beauty, and the effect of an army marching with spears of this metal in -the flashing sunlight, we can imagine to have been truly magnificent. - -The people of this remote age must have attained considerable skill -in the manufacturing arts—must have had laws, religion, and social -culture—yet how little would have been known of them if these mute -witnesses of a past humanity had not been interpreted by science. -Archæology and philology are the only solvents of the past; and no -theory can henceforth be tolerated that will not stand the test of -being assayed by them. The philologist traces the origin and affinities -of our people in the roots of the Irish language; while their habits, -modes of life, their position in the scale of civilization throughout -the long duration of the unwritten age, can only be read in the letters -of stone, bronze, and gold upon the walls of our Academy. - -Irish manuscripts, though the oldest in North-western Europe, date -back scarcely further than the fifth or sixth century. Beyond that -period we enter a region of darkness, through which no literature -or letters radiate their light; yet, unassisted by either, the -archæologist can reconstruct the primitive world and the primitive -man with greater truth and certainty than if he possessed both; for -the facts of a museum are changeless and enduring, and can suffer no -mutation from prejudice or ignorance, yet we must remember that it -is science alone that gives value to these facts. Without its aid a -museum would be only an aggregate of curious lumber. The archæologist -must combine, in a synthetic and comprehensive view—must arrange in -their proper sequence—must elucidate by a world-wide learning, these -sibyline fragments of the past; or this writing on the wall, though -it express the most irrefragable truths of history, will remain an -undeciphered hieroglyphic, as useless and unprofitable to the student -as the alphabet of an unknown language, which he is unable to form -into intelligible words. All this Sir William Wilde accomplished for -the Museum of the Academy, and in his clear and well-arranged volumes -we can read the stone pages of our history by the light of all the -learning and antiquarian research of the past and present age gathered -to one focus. - -The conclusion to be drawn from the facts laid before us is, that in -an age of remote antiquity (M. Boucher de Perthes, the well-known -French author and antiquarian, has written a book to prove that it -was prior to the Deluge) the entire face of the earth was covered -by a nomad people, speaking the one language, and living after the -same rude fashion, with no other weapons than sharpened stone. This -race passed away, and no research has ever yet discovered their name, -their language, their religion, or the era of their existence. Not an -inscription, not a word, not a letter graven on any stone have they -left to allay the torturing curiosity of the inquirer. Yet traces of -them have been found from Mexico to Japan; from the steppes of Tartary -to the Pampas; round the shores of every European sea, and along the -coasts of the two oceans. Wherever man’s foot has trodden within -historic times, they trod before all history. Even in this outlying -isle of ours vestiges of this people are strewn so thickly that the -very soil seems made of their remains. Then another race swept across -Europe—a comparatively cultured race, bearing with them the chief -element of civilization—a knowledge of metals. They spread over both -sides of the Danube; left their footprints in Italy and on the shores -of the Baltic; overran Switzerland, France, and Belgium, giving names -to the rivers they passed, the mountains they crossed, and the towns -they founded, which names cling to them even to this day. From Belgium -they spread to Britain, and from thence, or by the seacoast of Spain, -they reached Ireland, where they founded the existing Irish race, -and brought with them the knowledge of metals, the art of music and -poetry, and the still existing Irish language. Historians name these -people the Celts. On the Continent they were gradually crushed down -beneath the Roman and Gothic races, and in Britain also by successive -conquests. But Ireland suffered no conquest. Here the old Celtic race -lived and flourished, and here alone their language, which everywhere -else melted into a compound with the Gothic and Latin, maintained -its distinct existence. The English language is the gradually formed -product and result of the successive conquests of England. But -no invading people ever gained sufficient strength in Ireland to -influence the original language. It exists still amongst us, living -and spoken the same as when thousands of years ago the Celtic people -first crossed the Danube and gave it the name it now bears. For this -reason all the archæologists of Europe turn their eyes to our sacred -isle, as to the one great museum of the Celtic race. Thus, Professor -Keller, of Zurich, anxiously studies the formation of Irish crannoges, -to compare them with the Swiss; and the learned Pictet, of Geneva, -demands the long-deferred completion of the Irish Dictionary, with an -ardour that puts to shame our own apathy, as without it comparative -philology wants its chief corner-stone. The great facts of our Museum, -illustrated, described, and laid before the learned of Europe in a -comprehensive form, will go far to correct the crude, imperfect notions -of Continental writers concerning Irish antiquities. For instance, -Professor Lindenschmidt, of Mayence, asserted in one of his earlier -published works, that all the ancient bronze articles found on this -side of the Alps were imported from Etruria, as a people so barbarous -as the Irish could never have produced them. The fact being, that the -largest, most varied, most highly decorated collection of bronze celts -existing is to be found in our Museum, along with numerous specimens -of the moulds in which they were cast, discovered on the very spot -where the ancient workman had lit his furnace. This universal interest -and demand for information are enough to stimulate our learned men to -exertion, seeing that they are, in a measure, answerable to Europe for -the proper preservation of our antiquities, the very rudest of which -can tell some tale of the past, as the mere furrows along the streets -of the dead Pompeii show that life once passed there. - - -EARLY IRISH ART. - - -Early Irish art illustrates in a very remarkable manner those -distinctive qualities of Irish nature, which we know from the legendary -traditions have characterized our people from the earliest times. The -earnest religious faith, the love of gorgeous colouring, the tendency -to express ideas by symbol, and the vivid imagination that delights in -the strange and unusual, often fantastic and grotesque, in place of the -absolute and real, combined with the patient and minute elaboration -of details, so truly Oriental in its spirit, specially mark Irish -ornamentation. All these reverential, artistic, fanciful, and subtle -evidences of the peculiar Celtic spirit find a full and significant -expression in the wonderful splendours of early Irish art, as seen -chiefly in the ancient illuminated manuscripts. - -The reputation of Irish artists for excellence in these costly -productions became so extended throughout Christian Europe in the early -ages, that at the request of many nations Ireland sent forth numbers of -her most cultured artists as teachers and scribes to the great foreign -schools and colleges; and numerous examples of skilled Irish work are -still existing in Continental Libraries, where they are held as amongst -the most sacred of the national treasures. For a full and comprehensive -illustration of this subject it would be impossible to over-estimate -the artistic and historic value of Mr. Westwood’s magnificent book on -Anglo-Saxon and Irish Manuscripts. The volume contains _facsimiles_ -from all the principal illuminated Celtic manuscripts of Europe, -executed with the most scrupulous care, chiefly by Mr. Westwood -himself, the majority of them with the aid of a magnifying glass, so -minute and delicate are the lines of ornamentation to be represented. -In fact, for accuracy of information and richness of illustration, -the volume surpasses anything yet published on Celtic art in the -United Kingdom, and may claim equality with the grand, but enormously -expensive work of Count Bastard, on early French Manuscripts. Mr. -Westwood, in a learned preliminary dissertation, gives his views on -the origin and development of Hiberno-Saxon art during the first -thousand years of the Christian era, and finds in the ornamentation, -as observed by Kemble and others, a distinct _Opus Hibernicum_ and an -_Opus Anglicum_, but the Irish the more perfect of the two, and wholly -different from Continental art of the same era. - -The earliest manuscripts of Greece and Rome show nothing like this -distinctive Celtic art; nor the Italian mosaics, nor the wall paintings -of Herculaneum or Pompeii—beautiful as are the representations of the -human figure found there; nor does Byzantine art afford any similar -types. From whence, then, did the Irish, the acknowledged founders of -Celtic art in Europe, derive their ideas of ornamentation? This is -one of the historical mysteries which, like the origin of the Round -Towers, still awaits solution. One must travel a long way, even to -the far East, before finding in the decorations of the ancient Hindoo -temples anything approaching to the typical idea that runs through -all Irish ornamentation. It is, however, an incontrovertible fact, -and one proved to demonstration by Mr. Westwood’s learning, labour, -and researches, that a time when the pictorial art was almost extinct -in Italy and Greece, and indeed scarcely existed in other parts of -Europe—namely, from the fifth to the end of the eighth century—a -style of art had been originated, cultivated, and brought into a most -marvellous state of perfection in Ireland absolutely distinct from -that of any other part of the civilized world; and which being carried -abroad by Irish and Saxon missionaries was adopted and imitated in -the schools of Charlemagne, and in all the other great schools and -monasteries founded by them upon the Continent. - -In the middle of the ninth century the influence of the artists of -Germany reacted on the productions of England, and in consequence of -the more frequent communications of learned men with Rome, classical -models began to be adopted, floral decorations were introduced, and -figures in the Byzantine style. With these the Irish ornamentation was -combined, principally in the framework of the design. Then it gradually -disappeared from England, where it was replaced by Franco-Saxon and -Teutonic art; so that after the tenth century Mr. Westwood has not -found any Anglo-Saxon manuscript executed in the Lindisfarne or Irish -style. But it remained for several centuries longer in use in Ireland, -though the ornamental details exhibit little of the extreme delicacy -of the earlier productions. With reference to these, Mr. Digby Wyatt -observes that, in delicacy of handling and minute but faultless -execution, the whole range of palæography offers nothing comparable to -the early Irish manuscripts, especially “The Book of Kells,” the most -marvellous of them all. One cannot wonder, therefore, that Giraldus -Cambrensis, when over in Ireland in the reign of Henry II., on being -shown an illuminated Irish manuscript, exclaimed, “This is more like -the work of angels than of men!” - -The peculiarities which characterize true Celtic art, whether in stone, -metal work, or manuscript illumination, consist in the excessive and -minute elaborations of intricate ornamental details, such as the -spirals, the interlaced ribands, and the entwined serpents and other -animal forms, so familiar to the students of our national art treasures -in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy. These forms are invariably -found in all Irish decoration. The initial letters and ornamentations -of the ancient manuscripts are reproduced in the gigantic stone crosses -and the more delicate metal work of the shrines and reliquaries; -and from this identity of ornamentation the age can be determined -of all art monuments or remains, and objects readily classified as -cotemporaneous. The Irish adhered with wonderful fidelity to their -peculiar art ideas for at least eight hundred years; and while the -Saxons coquetted with Frankish art, and finally gave themselves up -wholly to Norman influence, the Irish continued their exclusive -devotion to the ancient and national Celtic type. Intensely national, -indeed, were those early artists; they gave ideas to the world, but -received none in exchange. In their pictures Goliath appears as an -Irish warrior, and David bears an Irish harp in his hands while -our Lord Himself, in one of the Irish sculptures, is represented -wearing the Irish dress. When the nation fell under Norman sway in -the twelfth century, Norman ideas naturally became triumphant; but -everything that is most beautiful and interesting in antique Irish -art belongs to the pre-Norman period—the gold ornaments, the gorgeous -manuscripts, such as the Gospels of Durrow and of Kells; the grandest -of the sculptured crosses, Cormac’s Chapel, that architectural gem -of Western Europe; the richly decorated shrines, such as that of -St. Monchan, “the most important ancient shrine now in existence in -these islands,” Mr. Westwood states; and specially interesting to us -Irish, from the recorded fact that it was covered with pure gold by -Roderick O’Connor, the last king of Ireland, and was, as the Annals -state, the most beautiful piece of art ever made in Erin. All these -evidences of high cultivation and artistic skill were in existence -long before the Norman adventurers set foot on our shores. Irish art, -however, died out with Irish Nationality; and in two centuries or so, -after the Norman Conquest, it ceased to exist, and was replaced by -the pseudo-Roman or Irish Romanesque style. Irish art can be easily -traced throughout the Continent by the peculiar ornamentation which -characterized it; and wherever, amongst the early manuscripts in -foreign libraries, one is found surpassing all the rest in the singular -beauty and firmness of the writing, and the exquisite delicacy of -the minute and elaborate illuminations, there at once an Irish hand -is recognized as worker, or an Irish intellect as teacher. The same -symbols and ideas run through all of them—there are the same strange, -elongated, contorted, intertwined figures; the same rich mosaics of -interlaced lines—so minute, so delicate, so rich in brilliant colours, -that the border of the page seems powdered with crushed jewels. There -is something almost melancholy in this devotion to a species of art -in which there was nothing to stimulate the feelings or to warm the -heart. No representation of nature’s glories in tree or flower, or the -splendour of human beauty; the artist’s aim being rather, it would -seem, to kill the human in him, by forcing his genius to work only on -the cold abstractions of spirals and curves, and endless geometrical -involutions, and the infinite monotony of those interlaced lines, -still coiling on, for ever and ever, through the centuries, like the -windings of the serpent of evil, which they were meant to symbolize, -through the successive generations of our fated humanity. Truly, these -artists offered up the sacrifice of love. Their lives and the labour -of their lives were given humbly, silently, reverently to God, and -the glory of God’s Word. They had no other aim in life, and when the -work was done, a work so beautiful that even now the world cannot equal -it, there was no vainglorious boast of himself came from the lips of -the artist worker, but the manuscript ends with some simple devotional -words, his name, and the desire to be remembered as the writer, like -the _orate pro me_ on the ancient tombstones; this was all he asked or -hoped for in return for the years of youth and life he had incarnated -in the illuminated pages of the Gospels. For in those early ages art -had no existence save in union with religion. Humanity brought together -all its most precious ointments to pour upon the feet of Jesus. In -Ireland especially—the Island of Saints—whatever genius could devise or -the hand of the artist could execute was lavished upon some work that -would recall the presence of God to the people, stimulate His worship, -or make known His word; upon the Psalters, the Gospels, the crosses, -the costly shrines, the jewelled cases for a saint’s relics, the -golden covers for the holy books. But nothing of that period has come -down to us that shows a luxury in domestic life. The Word of God was -shrined in gold, made rich with gems and enamels, but the people lived -their old simple life in their old rude huts; and even the kings gave -their wealth, not to erect palaces, but to build churches, to endow -abbeys, to help the cause of God, and speed the holy men who were His -ministers, in their crusade against evil, ignorance and darkness. - -It is no idle boast to say that the Irish were the teachers of Europe -from the seventh to the tenth century in art and religion. Mr. Westwood -has visited all the great libraries of England and the Continent -and found abundant evidence that Irish art, or Hiberno-Saxon art, -was diffused over Europe during that period. The Greek and Latin -manuscripts are not illuminated, but are adorned with intercalated -pictures; Irish art differs from them in many respects—amongst others, -in having the figures and rich ornamentations printed on the leaves -and borders of the book itself. He has given _facsimiles_ from Irish -manuscripts now existing in the libraries of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, -Lichfield, Salisbury, Lambeth, the British Museum, and other places; -and, passing to the Continent, has laid under contribution the great -libraries of Paris, Rouen, Boulogne, St. Gall, Milan, Rome, Munich, -Darmstadt, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and even St. Petersburg, and thus -proved the excellence to which Irish artists, or Saxon artists educated -in Irish schools, attained more than a thousand years ago. Nor is it -strange that Ireland should have been the teacher, considering its -early Christianity, which had made some progress amongst the people -even in St. Jerome’s time; a little later amongst the Britons; but -at the end of the sixth century Augustine and his monks found the -stolid Anglo-Saxons still in the bonds of their ancient paganism -and Wodenism. The Celtic race received the Christian faith gladly as -early as the fourth century, but it was a difficult matter to bring -light to the Saxon soul. It has at all times proved itself rather -opaque in nature. The Saxon tribes of Germany did not renounce their -idols till forced to it by the strong coercive power and keen sword of -Charlemagne, in the latter half of the eighth century. - -With Christianity came to Ireland the knowledge of letters; at least -no older inscription has been found than that on the pillar stone -of Lugnadon, St. Patrick’s nephew, which may still be seen beside -the ruin of St. Patrick’s oratory in one of the beautiful islands of -Lough Corrib;[11] and the oldest manuscript existing in Ireland is the -Book of Armagh, a copy of St. Jerome’s Latin version of the Gospels -written in the old Roman letters, and very valuable for the beauty -of the writing and the various drawings it contains. Learning was at -once consecrated to the service of God in those early days, and to -multiply copies of the Gospels was the praiseworthy and devout task -of the first great teachers and missionaries. The Book of Durrow and -the Book of Kells, both of the early part of the sixth century, are -believed to be the work of St. Columba himself. The latter, the Book of -Kells, has filled all critics with wonder and admiration. It is more -decorated than any existing copy of the Gospels, and is pronounced by -learned authorities to be “the most beautiful manuscript in existence -of so early a date, and the most magnificent specimen of penmanship -and illumination in the Western World.” They are both written in the -Latin uncial character, common to Europe at the time; and here it may -be noticed, in passing, that the so-called Irish alphabet is simply the -Latin alphabet modified by the first missionaries to suit the Irish -sounds, as Ulphila, the apostle of the Goths, invented an alphabet of -mingled Greek and Latin characters, in order to enable him to make his -translation of the Gospels into Gothic; and as the Greek missionaries -invented the Russian alphabet, which is a modified form of the Greek, -for a like purpose. That the Irish should retain the old form of the -Latin letters, while most of the other nations of Europe have discarded -it, is to be regretted, as nothing would facilitate the study of Irish -so much at the present day, when one has so little leisure to spell out -with much painful endeavour the barbarous symbols of a bygone age, as -the adoption of the modern English alphabet. The first Irish book that -was ever printed appeared in 1571, and is now in the Bodleian Library. -It is a catechism of Irish grammar, and the Irish alphabet has suffered -no modification or improvement since. It was about the end of the -sixth century that the fame of Irish learning and the skill of Irish -artists began to extend to England, and from thence to the Continent; -and Irish scribes were employed to make copies of the Gospels and teach -the splendid art of illumination in the English monasteries. From -that period till the end of the ninth century the Irish were a power -in Europe from their learning and piety—eminent in Greek as well as -Latin, and the great teachers of scholastic theology to the Christian -world. The Gospels of Lindisfarne, executed by monks of Iona in the -seventh century, and now “the glory of the British Museum,” form a most -important element in the early history of Celtic art, as this book -seems to have been the principal model for succeeding artists. - - [11] See Sir William Wilde’s work, “Lough Corrib: its Shores and - Islands,” where a drawing of this inscription is given. - -In the splendid folio copy of the Gospels at Copenhagen of the tenth -century, supposed to have been brought to Denmark by King Canute, the -figure of St. Matthew seated, while another saint draws back a curtain, -is copied from the Gospels of Lindisfarne, while the border is in -the tenth century style. The Gospels of St. Chad, now in Lichfield -Library, are in the Irish style of the eighth century, and are very -noticeable as having marginal notes in Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and ancient -British, the latter being the oldest specimen of the ancient British -language now in existence. The illuminations also are copied from the -Lindisfarne book. St. Chad, it is known, was educated in Ireland, -in the school of St. Finian. There are Irish Gospels at Durham of -the eighth century. The Gospels of Mac-Regal are at Oxford, and the -Gospels of Mac-Duran, the smallest and most beautiful known, are in -the Archbishop’s palace at Lambeth. As Saxon art progressed and became -influenced by Roman models, the Irish scribes were chiefly employed -wherever elegance, harmony of colour, and extreme delicacy of touch -were particularly requisite, as in the borders and initial letters. -Thus, the Psalter of St. Augustine, said to be from Rome, and which -resembles in style the manuscript Virgil of the fifth century, in the -Vatican, is framed in pure Celtic art. On the Continent, also, the -borders of the great manuscripts were generally confined to Irish -hands. A Latin copy of the Gospels at Treves, evidently produced by -one of the establishments founded by the Irish upon the Rhine, is -remarkable for a combination of Celtic, Teutonic, and Franco-Byzantine -art. The borders are Irish while the figures are Byzantine. These -illuminated borders have the glitter and radiance of a setting of -jewels, and are thus admirably suited to fulfil the true object of all -ornamentation, which Mr. Ruskin defines as being “beautiful in its -place, and perfect in its adaptation to the purpose for which it was -employed.” - -In the sixth century St. Gall, born in Ireland, accompanied St. -Columbanus to the Continent, and founded the monastery in Switzerland -that bears his name. Here many interesting manuscripts and fragments -are still preserved, remarkable for the old Irish marginal notes to the -Latin text. Those are considered by philologists of such importance -that thirteen quarto plates and _facsimiles_ from them are given -by Dr. Ferdinand Keller in the Zurich Society’s Transactions. An -interesting relic of an Irish saint is also preserved in the Cathedral -of Wurtzburg—a copy of the Gospels of St. Kilian, martyred in 689, and -which was found stained with his blood on opening his tomb about fifty -years after. - -Thus, the Irish can be tracked, as it were, across Europe by their -illuminated footsteps. They were emphatically the witnesses of God, -the light-bearers through the dark ages, and above all, the faithful -guardians and preservers of God’s sacred Word. A hundred years before -Alfred came to Ireland to be educated, and went back to civilize his -native country by the knowledge he had acquired there, the Christian -schools of Germany, under the direction of Irishmen, had been founded -by Charlemagne. Through France, along the Rhine, through Switzerland, -Italy, and Spain, the Irish missionaries taught and worked, founding -schools and monasteries, and illuminating by their learning the darkest -pages of European history. One of the great treasures of the Imperial -Library of Paris is a beautiful Irish copy of the Latin Gospels. The -College of St. Isidore, at Rome, possesses many Irish manuscripts—one -of them is a Psalter, folio size, written throughout in letters a -quarter of an inch long, and which is considered to be the finest of -the later works of the Irish school. The celebrated Golden Gospels of -Stockholm are of Hiberno-Saxon art of the ninth century. This book has -a singular history. It was stolen from England, and disappeared for -ages, but finally was discovered at Mantua in the seventeenth century, -and purchased for the Royal Library at Stockholm. St. Petersburg -also possesses a highly illuminated copy of the Gospels, which was -taken from France at the time of the great Revolution, and found its -way to the far North. It is a perfect and beautiful specimen of the -Irish style of the eight century, and the initial letters can only be -compared to those of the Book of Kells. All these Irish manuscript -Gospels are, without exception, copies of St. Jerome’s Latin version. -No Irish translation of the Gospels has ever been found. Learning was -evidently considered a sacred thing, indispensable for the priesthood, -but not necessary for the masses; yet it seems strange that while the -learned and pious Irish saints and missionaries were devoting their -lives to multiplying copies of the Gospels for other nations, and -disseminating them over Europe, they never thought of giving the people -of their own land the Word of God to read in their own native tongue. -The leading Teutonic races, on the contrary, with their free spirit, -were not satisfied with accepting the doctrines of the faith, simply -as an act of obedience to their teachers. They demanded the right of -private judgment, the exercise of individual reason, and the Gospels -were translated into Gothic as early as the fourth century by Bishop -Ulphila for the use of the Gothic nation. - -This remarkable book, called the “Codex Argenteus,” is now in the Royal -Library of Upsala, having, after many dangers and vicissitudes, at last -found its way to the people who hold themselves the true descendants of -the Goths, and whose king still bears the proud title of “King of the -Swedes, Goths, and Vandals;” and an edition of it, with annotations, -has been published by the learned Professor Andreas Uppstrom, of Upsala. - -Towards the close of the tenth century the Frankish style of -ornamentation, a blending of the classical and the Byzantine, had -almost entirely superseded the beautiful and delicate Celtic art both -in England and on the Continent, and about the fifteenth century it -disappeared even from our own Ireland, the country of its origin. -The gorgeous missals and illuminated Gospels, instinct with life, -genius, holy reverence, and patient love, were destined to be replaced -soon after by the dull mechanism of print; while Protestantism used -all its new-found strength to destroy that innate tendency of our -nature which seeks to manifest religious fervour, faith, and zeal by -costly offerings and sacrifices. The golden-bordered holy books, the -sculptured crosses, the jewelled shrines were crushed under the heel of -Cromwell’s troopers; the majestic and beautiful abbeys were desecrated -and cast down to ruin, while beside them rose the mean and ugly -structures of the Reformed faith, as if the annihilation of all beauty -were then considered to be the most acceptable homage which man could -offer to the God who created all beauty, and fitted the human soul to -enjoy and manifest the spiritual, mystic, and eternal loveliness of -form, and colour, and symmetry. - -Since that mournful period when the conquering iconoclasts cast down -the temples and crushed the spirit of our people, there has been no -revival of art in Ireland. It is not wonderful, therefore, that we -cling with so much of fond, though sad, admiration to the beautiful -memorials of the past, and welcome with warm appreciation the efforts -of able, learned and distinguished men to illustrate and preserve them, -as in this splendid and costly book which Mr. Westwood has contributed -to Celtic art. - - -OUR ANCIENT CAPITAL. - - -The history of Dublin, so admirably narrated by Mr. Gilbert in his -learned and instructive volumes,[12] begins the modern period of -Irish history when Ireland became indissolubly united with the British -Empire—the greatest empire of the world—and legendary lore, like all -the ancient usages and superstitions, began to fade and perish before -advancing civilization, as the luxurious undergrowth of a primeval -forest before advancing culture. - - [12] “The History of Dublin.” 3 vols. By J. T. Gilbert, M.R.I.A. - Dublin. - -A sketch of the rise of the capital of Ireland, with all the changes -produced in Irish life by the new modes of thought and action -introduced by Norman influence, forms therefore a fitting close to the -legendary and early-historic period, so full of poetry and charm for -the imagination, with its splendour of kings and bards, its shadowy -romance and mist-woven dreams, and its ideal fairy world of beauty -and grace, of music and song; when the people lived the free, joyous -life of the childhood of humanity under their native princes, and the -terrible struggle of a crushed and oppressed nation against a foreign -master had not yet begun; the struggle that has lasted for seven -centuries, and still goes on with exhaustless force and fervour. - -The history of cities is the history of nations—the most perfect index -of the social altitude, mental development, physical perfection, -and political freedom, which at any given period a people may have -attained. Every stone within a city is a hieroglyphic of the century -that saw it raised. By it we trace human progression through all its -phases; from the first rude fisher’s hut, the altar of the primitive -priest, the mound of the first nomad warrior, the stone fortalice -or simple fane of the early Christian race, up to the stately and -beautiful temples and palaces which evidence the luxury and refinement -of a people in its proudest excess, or human genius in its climax of -manifestation. - -Thus Babylon, Thebes, Rome, Jerusalem, are words that express nations. -The ever-during interest of the world circles round them, for their -ruins are true and eternal pages of human history. Every fallen column -is a fragment of a past ritual, or a symbol of a dynasty. The very dust -is vital with great memories, and a philosopher, like the comparative -anatomist, might construct the entire life of a people—its religion, -literature, and laws—from these fragments of extinct generations—these -fossil paleographs of man. - -Statue and column, mausoleum and shrine, are trophies of a nation’s -triumphs or its tragedies. The young children, as they gaze on them, -learn the story of the native heroes, poets, saints, and martyrs, -leaders and lawgivers, who have flung their own glory as a regal mantle -over their country. Spirits of the past, from the phantom-land, dwell -in the midst of them. We feel their presence, and hear their words -of inspiration or warning, alike in the grandeur or decadence of an -ancient city. - -Modern capitals represent also, not only the history of the past, but -the living concentrated will of the entire nation. Thus is it with -London, Berlin, and Vienna, while Paris, the _cité verbe_, as Victor -Hugo calls her, represents not only the tendencies of France, but of -Europe. - -Dublin, however, differs from all other capitals, past or present, in -this wise—that by its history we trace, not the progress of the native -race, but the triumphs of its enemies; and that the concentrated will -of Dublin has always been in antagonism to the feelings of a large -portion of the nation. - -The truth is, that though our chief city of Ireland has an historical -existence older than Christianity, yet this fair _Ath-Cliath_ has no -pretension to be called our ancient mother. From first to last, from a -thousand years ago till now, Dublin has held the position of a foreign -fortress within the kingdom; and its history has no other emblazonment -beyond that of unceasing hostility or indifference to the native race. - -“The inhabitants are mere English, though of Irish birth,” wrote -Hooker, three hundred years ago. “The citizens,” says Holingshed, -“have from time to time so galled the Irish, that even to this day the -Irish fear a ragged and jagged black standard that the citizens have, -though almost worn to the stumps.” Up to Henry the Seventh’s reign, -an Englishman of Dublin was not punished for killing an Irishman, nor -were Irishmen admitted to any office within the city that concerned the -government either of the souls or bodies of the citizens. The Viceroys, -the Archbishops, the Judges, the Mayors, the Corporations, were all and -always English, down to the very guild of tailors, of whom it stands -on record that they would allow no Irishman to be of their fraternity. -As the American colonists treated the red man, as the Spaniards of -Cortez treated the Mexicans, as the English colony of India treated -the ancient Indian princes, tribes, and people, so the English race -of Dublin treated the Irish nation. They were a people to be crushed, -ruined, persecuted, tormented, extirpated; and the Irish race, it -must be confessed, retorted the hatred with as bitter an animosity. -The rising of 1641 was like all Irish attempts—a wild, helpless, -disorganized effort at revenge; and seven years later we read that Owen -Roe O’Neil burned the country about Dublin, so that from one steeple -there two hundred fires could be seen at once. - -This being the position of a country and its capital, it is evident -that no effort for national independence could gain nourishment in -Dublin. Our metropolis is associated with no glorious moment of a -nation’s career, while in all the dark tragedies of our gloomy history -its name and influence predominate. Dublin is connected with Irish -patriotism only by the scaffold and the gallows. Statue and column -do indeed rise there, but not to honour the sons of the soil. The -public idols are foreign potentates and foreign heroes. Macaulay -says eloquently on this subject, “The Irish people are doomed -to see in every place the monuments of their subjugation; before -the senate-house, the statue of their conqueror—within, the walls -tapestried with the defeats of their fathers.” - -No public statue of an illustrious Irishman until recently ever graced -the Irish capital. No monument exists to which the gaze of the young -Irish children can be directed, while their fathers tell them, “This -was to the glory of your countrymen.” Even the lustre Dublin borrowed -from her great Norman colonists has passed away. Her nobility are -remembered only as we note the desecration of their palaces; the most -beautiful of all our metropolitan buildings but reminds us that there -the last remnant of political independence was sold; the stately -Custom-house, that Dublin has no trade; the regal pile of Dublin -Castle, that it was reared by foreign hands to “curb and awe the city.” - -It is in truth a gloomy task to awaken the memories of Dublin, even of -this century. There, in that obscure house of Thomas Street, visions -rise of a ghastly night-scene, where the young, passionate-hearted -Geraldine was struggling vainly in death-agony with his betrayers and -captors. Pass on through the same street, and close by St. Catherine’s -Church you can trace the spot where the gallows was erected for -Robert Emmet. Before that sombre prison pile two young brothers, -handsome, educated, and well-born, and many a fair young form after -them, expiated by death their fatal aspirations for Irish freedom. -Look at that magnificent portal, leading now to the tables of the -money-changers; through it, not a century ago, men, entrusted with the -nation’s rights, entered to sell them, and came forth, not branded -traitors, but decorated, enriched, and rewarded with titles, pensions, -and honours. - -Yet the anomalous relation between our country and its capital springs -naturally from the antecedents of both. Dublin was neither built by -the Irish nor peopled by the Irish; it is a Scandinavian settlement in -the midst of a southern nation. Long even before the Norman invasion -two races existed in Ireland, as different as the lines of migration -by which each had reached it; and though ages have rolled away since -Scythian and Southern first met in this distant land, yet the elemental -distinctions have never been lost: the races have never blended -into one homogeneous nationality. Other nations, like the English, -have blended with their conquerors, and progression and a higher -civilization have been the result. Roman, Saxon, Dane, and Norman, each -left their impress on the primitive Briton; and from Roman courage, -Saxon thrift, and Norman pride has been evolved the strong, wise, proud -island-nation that rules the world—the Ocean-Rome. A similar blending -of opposite elements, but in different proportions, has produced Scotch -national character—grave, wise, learned, provident, industrious, and -unconquerably independent. But the Irish race remains distinct from -all others, as Jew or Zincali. It has no elective affinities, enters -into no new combinations, forms no new results, attracts to itself no -Scythian qualities of stern self-reliance and the indomitable pride of -independence, but still retains all the old virtues and vices of their -semi-oriental nature, which make the history of Ireland so sad a record -of mere passionate impulses ending mostly in failure and despair. The -English, slow in speech and repellent in manner, are yet able not only -to rule themselves well and ably, but to rule the world; while the -Irish, so fascinating, eloquent, brave, and gifted, have never yet -achieved a distinctive place in the political system of Europe. We -had even the advantage of an earlier education; we taught England her -letters, Christianized her people, sheltered her saints, educated her -princes; we give her the best generals, the best statesmen, the best -armies; yet, withal, we have never yet found the strength to govern our -own kingdom. Ethnologists will tell you this comes of race. It may be -so. Let us then sail up the stream of time to Ararat, and try to find -our ancestry amongst the children of the eight primal gods, as the -ancients termed them, who there stepped forth from their ocean prison -to people the newly baptized world. - -A very clever German advises all reviewers to begin from the Deluge, so -that by no possibility can a single fact, direct or collateral, escape -notice connected with the matter in hand. When treating of Ireland this -rule becomes a necessity. Our nation dates from the dispersion, and our -faults and failings, our features and our speech, have an authentic -hereditary descent of four thousand years. Other primitive nations have -been lost by migration, annihilated by war, swallowed up in empires, -overwhelmed by barbarians: thus it was that the old kingdoms of Europe -changed masters, and that the old nations and tongues passed away. -Here only, in this island prison of the Atlantic, can the old race of -primitive Europe be still found existing as a nation, speaking the same -tongue as the early tribes that first wandered westward, when Europe -itself was an unpeopled wilderness. - -We learn from sacred record that the first migrations of the human -family, with “one language and one speech,” were _from_ the East; and -every successive wave of population has still flowed from the rising -towards the setting sun. The progression of intellect and science is -ever westward. The march of humanity is opposed to the path of the -planet. Life moves contrary to matter. A metaphor, it may be, of our -spirit exile—this travelling “daily further from the East;” yet, when -at the farthest limit, we are but approaching the glory of the East -again. - -Gradually, along the waters of the Mediterranean, the beautiful islands -on its bosom serving as resting-places for the wanderers, or bridges -for the tribes to pass over, the primal families of the Japhetian race -reached in succession the three great Peninsulas of the Great Sea, in -each leaving the germ of a mighty nation. Still onward, led by the -providence of God, they passed the portals of the Atlantic, coasted the -shores of the vine-clad France, and so reached at length the “Isles of -the Setting Sun,” upon the very verge of Western Europe. - -But many centuries may have elapsed during the slow progression of -these maritime colonies, who have left their names indelibly stamped on -the earth’s surface, from Ionia to the Tartessus of Spain; and Miriam -may have chanted the death-song of Pharaoh, and Moses led forth the -people of God, before the descendants of the first navigators landed -amidst the verdant solitudes of Ireland. - -The earliest tribes that reached our island, though removed so far from -the centre of light and wisdom, must still have been familiar with all -science necessary to preserve existence, and to organize a new country -into a human habitation. They cleared the forests, worked the mines, -built chambers for the dead, after the manner of their kindred left in -Tyre and Greece, wrought arms, defensive and offensive, such as the -heroes of Marathon used against the long-haired Persians; they raised -altars and pillar-stones, still standing amongst us, mysterious and -eternal symbols of a simple primitive creed; they had bards, priests, -and lawgivers, the old tongue of Shinar, the dress of Nineveh, and the -ancient faith whose ritual was prayer and sacrifice. - -The kindred races who remained stationary, built cities and temples, -still a world’s wonder, and arts flourished amongst them impossible to -the nomads of the plains, or the wanderers by the ocean islands; but -the destiny of dispersion was still on the race, and from these central -points of civilization, tribes and families constantly went forth to -achieve new conquests over the yet untamed earth. - -Whatever wisdom the early island colonizers had brought with them, -would have died out for want of nourishment, had not these new tribes, -from countries where civilization had become developed and permanent, -constantly given fresh impulses to progress. With stronger and more -powerful arts and arms, they, in succession, gained dominion over their -weaker predecessors, and by commerce, laws, arts, and learning, they -organized families into nations, enlightening while they subjugated. - -The conquest of Canaan gave the second great impetus to the human -tides ever flowing westward. Irish tradition has even, in a confused -manner, preserved the names of two amongst the leaders of the Sidonian -fugitives who landed in Ireland. Partholan, with his wife Elga, and -Gadelius, with his wife Scota. - -“This Gadelius,” say the legends, “was a noble gentleman, right wise, -valiant, and well spoken, who, after Pharaoh was drowned, sailed -for Spain, and from thence to Ireland, with a colony of Greeks and -Egyptians, and his wife Scota, a daughter of Pharaoh’s; and he taught -letters to the Irish, and warlike feats after the Greek and Egyptian -manner.” - -These later tribes brought with them the Syrian arts and civilization, -such as dyeing and weaving, working in gold, silver, and brass, besides -the written characters, the same that Cadmus afterwards gave to Greece, -and which remained in use amongst the Irish, it is said, until modified -by Saint Patrick into their present form, to assimilate them to the -Latin. - -Continued intercourse with their Syrian kindred soon filled Ireland -with the refinement of a luxurious civilization. From various sources, -we learn that in those ancient times, the native dress was costly and -picturesque, and the habits and modes of living of the chiefs and kings -splendid and Oriental. The high-born and the wealthy wore tunics of -fine linen of immense width, girdled with gold and with flowing sleeves -after the Eastern fashion. The fringed cloak, or _cuchula_, with a -hood, after the Arab mode, was clasped on the shoulders with a golden -brooch. Golden circlets, of beautiful and classic form, confined their -long, flowing hair, and, crowned with their diadems, the chiefs sat at -the banquet, or went forth to war. Sandals upon the feet, and bracelets -and signet rings, of rich and curious workmanship, completed the -costume. The ladies wore the silken robes and flowing veils of Persia, -or rolls of linen wound round the head like the Egyptian Isis, the -hair curiously plaited down the back and fastened with gold or silver -bodkins, while the neck and arms were profusely covered with jewels.[13] - - [13] These relics of a civilization three thousand years old, may - still be gazed upon by modern eyes in the splendid and unrivalled - antiquarian collection of the Royal Irish Academy. The golden - circlets, the fibulas, torques, bracelets, rings, &c., worn by the - ancient race, are not only costly in value, but often so singularly - beautiful in the working out of minute artistic details, that modern - art is not merely unable to equal them, but unable even to comprehend - how the ancient workers in metals could accomplish works of such - delicate, almost microscopic minuteness of finish. - -For successive centuries, this race, half Tyrian and half Greek, held -undisputed possession of Ireland, maintaining, it is said, constant -intercourse with the parent state, and, when Tyre fell, commercial -relations were continued with Carthage. Communication between such -distant lands was nothing to Phœnician enterprise. Phœnicians in the -service of an Egyptian king had sailed round Africa and doubled the -Cape of Good Hope two thousand years before the Portuguese. The same -people built the navy of King Solomon a thousand years before Christ; -and led the fleet to India for the gold necessary for the Temple. They -cast the brazen vessels for the altar, employing for the purpose the -tin which their merchants must have brought from the British Isles. -Thus, to use the words of Humboldt, there can be no doubt that three -thousand years ago “the Tyrian flag waved from Britain to the Indian -Ocean.” - -A king of the race, long before Romulus founded Rome, erected a college -at Tara, where the Druids taught the wisdom of Egypt, the mysteries -of Samothrace, and the religion of Tyre. Then it was that Ireland -was known as _Innis-Alga_—the Holy Island—held sacred by the Tyrian -mariners as the “Temple of the Setting Sun:” the last limit of Europe, -from whence they could watch his descent into the mysterious western -ocean. - -But onward still came the waves of human life, unceasing, unresting. -Driven forth from Carthage, Spain, and Gaul, the ancient race fled -to the limits of the coast, then surged back, fought and refought -the battle, conquering and yielding by turns, till at length the -Syrian and the Latin elements blended into a new compound, which laid -the foundation of modern Europe. But some tribes, disdaining such a -union, fled from Spain to Ireland, and thus a new race, but of the old -kindred, was flung on our shores by destiny. - -The leaders, brave, warlike, and of royal blood, speedily assumed -kingly sway, and all the subsequent monarchs of Ireland, the O’Briens, -the O’Connors, the O’Neils, the O’Donnels, and other noble races, claim -descent from them; and very proud, even to this day, are the families -amongst the Irish who can trace back their pedigree to these princely -Spaniards. - -We have spoken hitherto but of the maritime colonists—that portion -of the primal race who launched their ships on the Mediterranean to -found colonies and kingdoms along its shores; then passing out through -the ocean straits, the human tides surged upon the western limits -of Europe, till the last wave found a rest on the green sward of -ancient Erin. The habits of these first colonists were agricultural, -commercial, and unwarlike; and ancient historians have left us a record -of their temperament; volatile and fickle; passionate in joy and -grief, with quick vivid natures prone to sudden excesses; religious -and superstitious; a small, dark-eyed race, lithe of limb and light of -heart; the eternal children of humanity. - -For illustrations we need not here refer to the Royal Irish Academy, -for as they looked and lived three thousand years ago, they may be seen -to this day in the mountains of Connemara and Kerry. - -While this race travelled westward to the ocean by the great southern -sea, other families of the Japhetian tribes were pressing westward -also, but by the great northern plains. From Western India, by the -Caspian and the Caucasus, past the shores of the Euxine, and still -westward along the great rivers of Central Europe, up to the rude -coasts of the Baltic, could be tracked “the westward marches of the -unknown crowded nations,” carrying with them fragments of the early -Japhetian wisdom, and memories of the ancient primal tongue brought -from the far East; but, as they removed further from the great lines -of human intercourse, and were subjected to the influence of rigorous -climates and nomadic habits, gradually becoming a rude, fierce people -of warriors and hunters, predatory and cruel, living by the chase, -warring with the wild wolves for their prey, and with each other for -the best pasture-grounds. Driven by the severity of the seasons to -perpetual migration, they built no cities and raised no monuments, save -the sepulchral mound, which can be traced from Tartary to the German -Ocean. - -Without the civilizing aids of commerce or literature, their language -degenerated into barbarous dialects; their clothing was the skin -of wild beasts; their religion, confused relics of ancient creeds, -contributed by the wandering colonies of Egypt, Media, Greece, and -Tyre, which occasionally blended with the Scythian hordes, wherein -Isis, Mercury, and Hercules, the symbols of wisdom, eloquence, and -courage, were the objects worshipped, though deteriorated by savage and -sanguinary rites, whose sacrifices were human victims, and whose best -votary was he who had slain most men. - -From long wandering through the gloomy regions where the sun is -darkened by perpetual clouds, they called themselves the “Children of -the Night,” and looked on her as the primal mother of all things. - -Their pastimes symbolized the fierce daring of their lives. At their -banquets they quaffed mead from the skulls of the slain, and chanted -war-songs to the music of their clashing bucklers, while their dances -were amid the points of their unsheathed swords. - -From the influence of climate, and from constant intermarriage amongst -themselves, certain physical and mental types became permanently fixed, -and the gigantic frame, the fair hair and “stern blue eyes”[14] of the -Scythian tribes, along with their bold, free, warlike, independent -spirit, are still the marked characteristic of their descendants. For -amidst these rude races of lion-hearted men, who cleared the forests of -Central Europe for future empires, there were great and noble virtues -born of their peculiar mode of life: a love of freedom, a lofty sense -of individual dignity, bold defiance of tyranny, a fortitude and -courage that rose to heroism—the spirit that brooks no fetter either on -the mind or frame. We see that such men were destined for world-rulers. -To them Europe is indebted for her free political systems; the -chivalry that ennobled warfare and elevated women, and the religious -reformation that freed Christianity from superstition. Every charter of -human freedom dates from the Scythian forests. - - [14] The expression of Tacitus. - -The great northern concourse of fierce, wild tribes, comprehended -originally under the name of Scythians, or Wanderers, having spread -themselves over the north to the very kingdom of the Frost-Giants, -amidst frozen seas and drifting glaciers, turned southward, tempted by -softer climes and richer lands, and under the names of Goth, Vandal, -Frank, and Norman, devastating tribes of the Scythian warriors poured -their rude masses upon the early and refined civilization of the -Mediterranean nations, conquering wherever they appeared and holding -bravely whatever they conquered. - -The Roman empire trembled and vanished before the terrible might of -the long-haired Goths. They sacked Rome and threatened Constantinople: -Africa, Italy, Spain, France, and Germany yielded to the barbaric -power. Before the fifth century the Scythians had conquered the world, -and every kingdom in Europe is ruled by them to this hour. - -How strangely contrasted the destinies of the two great Japhetian -races! What vicissitudes of fortune! The refined, lettered, oriental -light-bringers to Europe—the founders of all kingdoms, the first -teachers of all knowledge, the race that peopled Tyre, Carthage, -Greece, Italy, Spain, and Gaul, degraded, humbled, and almost -annihilated; the last poor remnant of them crushed up in the remote -fastnesses of the hills along the coast-line of Europe; step by step -driven backwards to the Atlantic, as the red man of America had been -driven to the Pacific, till, over the whole earth they can be found -nowhere as a nation, save only in Ireland, while the rude, fierce -Scandinavian hordes have risen up to be the mightiest of the earth. -Greece subdued Asia, and Rome subdued Greece, but Scythia conquered -Rome! The children of night and of the dark forests rule the kingdoms -that rule the world. - -They have given language and laws to modern empires, and at the present -day are at the head of all that is most powerful, most thoughtful, most -enterprising, and most learned throughout the entire globe. - -The story of how the Scythian first came to the British Islands, has -been preserved in the Welsh annals, which date back three thousand -years. The legend runs that their ancestors, the nation of the Cimbri, -wandered long over Europe, forgetting God’s name, and the early wisdom. -At length they crossed “the hazy sea” (the German Ocean) from the -country of the pools (Belgium) and came to Britain, the sea-girt land, -called by them Cambria,[15] or, first mother; and they were the first -who trod the soil of Britain. There their poets and bards recovered -the lost name of God, the sacred I.A.O., and the primal letters their -forefathers had known, called the ten signs. And ever since they -have possessed religion and literature, though the bards kept the -signs secret for many ages, so that all learning might be limited to -themselves. - - [15] This is the Latinized form of the original word. - -The paramount monarch of the Cimbri nation reigned at London, and -a state of poetry and peace long continued, till the Dragon-Aliens -appeared on their coasts. The ancient Cimbri retreated into Wales, -where they have ever since remained. The Picts seized on Caledonia, and -the Saxons on England, until, in their turn, they were conquered by the -Danes. - -Ireland at that period was the most learned and powerful island of -the West. Through all changes of European dynasties she retained her -independence. From the Milesian to the Norman, no conqueror had trod -her soil.[16] - - [16] The Danes were never more than a colony in Ireland. - -Meanwhile England, who never yet successfully resisted an invading -enemy, passed under many a foreign yoke. For five hundred years the -Romans held her as a province to supply their legions with recruits, -and the abject submission of the natives called forth the bitter -sarcasm, that “the good of his country was the only cause in which a -Briton had forgot to die.” - -The acquisition of Ireland was eagerly coveted by the imperial race, -but though Agricola boasted he would conquer it with a single legion, -and even went so far towards the completion of his design as to line -all the opposite coasts of Wales with his troops, yet no Roman soldier -ever set foot on Irish soil. - -Rome had enough of work on hand just then, for Alaric the Goth is at -her gates, and Attila, the scourge of God, is ravaging her fairest -provinces. The imperial mother of Colonies can no longer hold her own -or aid her children; England is abandoned to her fate, and the Irish -from the west, the Scythian from the north, the Saxon from the east, -assault, and desolate, and despoil her. - -The Scythian Picts pour down on her cities, “killing, burning, and -destroying.” The Irish land in swarms from their _corrahs_, and “with -fiery outrage and cruelty, carry, harry, and make havoc of all.” Thus -bandied between two insolent enemies, the English sent ambassadors to -Rome “with their garments rent, and sand upon their heads,” bearing -that most mournful appeal of an humbled people—“to Ætius, thrice -Consul: the groans of the Britons. The barbarians drive us to the sea, -the sea drives us back to the barbarians; thus, between two kinds of -death, we are either slaughtered or drowned.” - -But no help comes, for Rome herself is devastated by Hun and Vandal, -and the empire is falling like a shattered world. - -Thus England passed helplessly under the Saxon yoke, and so rested some -hundred years; Ireland the while remaining as free from Saxon thrall as -she had been from Roman rule. - -Through all these centuries the current of human life still flowed -westward from the unknown mysterious regions of Central Asia. - -It was about the close of the eighth century, when the Scythian -Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of Rome in the city of the Cæsars, -that the fierce children of Thor and Odin, after having swept across -Northern Europe to the limit of the land, flung their fortunes to the -stormy seas, and began to earn that terrible yet romantic renown with -which history and saga have invested the deeds of the Scandinavian sea -kings. The raven on their black banner was the dreaded symbol of havoc -and devastation all along the sea coasts and islands of the Atlantic. -In England, Saxon rule fell helplessly before the power of the new -invaders, as wave after wave of the ruthless sea-ravagers dashed upon -the sluggish masses of the heptarchy. - -After two hundred years of protracted agony and strife, Saxon sway was -annihilated for ever, and Canute the Dane reigned in England. - -Meanwhile, the well-appointed fleets of Norsemen and Danes were -prowling about the cost of Ireland, trying to obtain a footing on her -yet unconquered soil. - -When these pagan pirates first appeared on our shores, Ireland had -enjoyed a Christian civilization of four centuries. The light of the -true faith had been there long before it shone upon rude Saxon England. -The Irish of that early era excelled in music, poetry, and many arts. -They had a literature, colleges for the learned, an organized and -independent hierarchy, churches and abbeys, whose ruins still attest -the sense of the beautiful, as well as the piety which must have -existed in the founders. Their manuscripts, dating from this period, -are older than those of any other nation of Northern Europe; their -music was distinguished by its pathetic beauty, and the ballads of -their bards emulated in force of expression those of ancient Homer. -At the time that the Scots were totally ignorant of letters, and that -the princes of the heptarchy had to resort to Irish colleges for -instruction in the liberal sciences, Ireland held the proud title of -the “Island of Saints and Scholars;” and learned men went forth from -her shores to evangelize Europe. - -One Irish priest founded an abbey at Iona; another was the friend -and counsellor of Charlemagne; a third, of equal celebrity, founded -monasteries both in France and England. The Irish of eleven centuries -ago were the apostles of Europe! - -The Norsemen, or “white strangers,” as the Irish called them who swept -like a hurricane over this early civilization, were fierce pagans, who -respected neither God nor man. Not till three centuries after their -arrival in Ireland were they converted to the Christian faith. They -pillaged towns, burned churches, destroyed manuscripts of the past -which no future can restore, plundered abbeys of all that learning, -sanctity and civilization had accumulated of the sacred, the costly, -and the beautiful, and gave the Irish nothing in return but lessons of -their own barbarous ferocity. Then it was we hear how Irish mothers -gave their infants food on the point of their father’s sword, and at -the baptism left the right arms of their babes unchristened that they -might strike the more relentlessly. The Syrian and the Scythian, the -children of the one Japhetian race, met at last in this _ultima thule_ -of Europe, after a three thousand years’ divergence; and even then, -though they met with fierce animosity and inextinguishable hatred, -yet lingerings of a far-off ancient identity in the language, the -traditions, and the superstitions of each, could still be traced in -these children of the one mighty father. - -Great consternation must have been in Ireland when the report spread -that a fleet of sixty strange sail was in the Boyne, and that another -of equal number was sailing up the Liffey. The foreigners leaped from -their ships to conquest. Daring brought success; they sacked, burned, -pillaged, murdered; put a captive king to death in his own gyves at -their ships; drove the Irish before them from the ocean to the Shannon; -till, with roused spirit and gathered force, the confederate kings of -Ireland in return drove back the white foreigners from the Shannon to -the ocean. But they had gained a footing, and inroads, with plunder -and devastation, never ceased from that time till the whole eastern -sea-border of Ireland was their own. There they established themselves -for four centuries, holding their first conquests, but never gaining -more, until they were finally expelled by the Normans. - -To these red-haired pirates and marauders Dublin owes its existence -as a city. The _Ath-Cliath_ of the Irish, though of ancient fame, was -but an aggregate of huts by the side of the Liffey, which was crossed -by a bridge of hurdles. The kings of Ireland never made it a royal -residence, even after Tara was cursed by St. Rodan. Their palaces were -in the interior of the island; but no doubt exists that _Ath-Cliath_, -the Eblana of Ptolemy, was a well-known port, the resort of merchantmen -from the most ancient times. There were received the Spanish wines, the -Syrian silks, the Indian gold, destined for the princes and nobles; and -from thence the costly merchandize was transported to the interior. - -But Dublin, with its fine plain watered by the Liffey, its noble bay, -guarded by the sentinel hills, at once attracted the special notice of -the bold Vikings. Their chiefs fixed their residence there, and assumed -the title of Kings of Dublin, or Kings of the Dark Water, as the word -may be translated. They erected a fortress on the very spot where -the Norman Castle now rules the city, and, after their conversion, a -cathedral, still standing amongst us, venerable with the memories of -eight hundred years. - -Their descendants are with us to this day, and many families might -trace back their lineage to the Danish leaders, whose names have been -preserved in Irish history. Amongst sundry of “these great and valiant -captains” are named Swanchean, Griffin, Albert Roe, Torbert Duff, -Goslyn, Walter English, Awley, King of Denmark, from whom descend the -Macaulays, made more illustrious by the modern historian of their race -than by the ancient pirate king. There are also named Randal O’Himer, -Algot, Ottarduff Earl, Fyn Crossagh, Torkill, Fox Wasbagg, Trevan, -Baron Robert, and others; names interesting, no doubt, to those who can -claim them for their ancestry. - -The Norsemen having walled and fortified Dublin, though including -but a mile within its circumference—whereas now the city includes -ten—proceeded to fortify Dunleary, now Kingstown, in order to secure -free passage to their ships. Then, from their stronghold of Dublin, -they made incessant inroads upon the broad rich plains of the interior. -They spread all along Meath, which received its name from them, of -“Fingall” (the land of the white stranger); they devastated as far -north as Armagh, as far west as the Shannon; Wexford, Waterford, and -Limerick became half Danish cities. Everywhere their course was marked -by barbaric spoliation. At one time it is noticed that they carried -off a “great prey of women”—thus the Romans woo’d their Sabine brides; -indeed the accounts in the Irish annals of the shrines they burned, -the royal graves they plundered, the treasures they pillaged, the -ferocities they perpetrated, are as interminable as they are revolting. - -When beaten back by the Irish princes they crouched within their walled -city of Dublin, till an opportunity offered for some fresh exercise of -murderous cunning, some act of audacious rapine. Thus the contest was -carried on for four centuries between the colonists and the nation; -mutual hatred ever increasing; the Irish kings of Leinster still -claiming the rights of feudal lords over the Danes; the Danes resisting -every effort made to dislodge them, though they were not unfrequently -forced to pay tribute. - -Sometimes the Irish kings hired them as mercenaries to assist in the -civil wars which raged perennially amongst them. Sometimes there were -intermarriages between the warring foes—the daughter of Brian Boro’ -wedded Sitric, King of the Danes of Dublin. Occasionally the Irish -kings got possession of Dublin, and ravaged and pillaged in return. -Once the Danes were driven forth completely from the city, and forced -to take refuge upon “Ireland’s Eye,” the lone sea rock, since made -memorable by a tragic history. Malachy, King of Meath, besieged Dublin -for three days and three nights, burned the fortress, and carried off -the Danish regalia; hence the allusion in Moore’s song to “The Collar -of Gold which he won from the proud invader.” But the most terrible -defeat the Danes ever sustained was at Clontarf, when ten thousand men -in coats of mail were opposed to King Brian; but “the ten thousand in -armour were cut in pieces, and three thousand warriors slain besides.” -Even the Irish children fought against the invader. The grandchild of -King Brian, a youth of fifteen, was found dead with his hand fast bound -in the hair of a Dane’s head, whom the child had dragged to the sea.[17] - - [17] Hogan, the great historical sculptor of Ireland, has illustrated - this era of Irish history by a fine group, heroic and poetical - in idea, as well as beautiful in execution, like every work that - proceeded from the gifted mind of this distinguished artist. - -Still the Danish colony was not uprooted, though after this defeat they -grew more humble, kept within their city of Dublin, and paid tribute to -the kings of Leinster, and to the paramount monarch of Ireland. - -Up to this period, therefore, we see that the Irish race had no -relationship whatever with their capital city; they never saw the -inside of their metropolis unless they were carried there as prisoners, -or that they entered with fire and sword; and, stranger still, during -the many centuries of the existence of Dublin as a city, up to the -present time, the Irish race have never ruled there, or held possession -of the fortress of their capital. - -But the time of judgment upon the Danes was approaching, though it -did not come by Irish hands. As the Saxons in England fell before -the Danes, so the Danes had fallen before the Normans. The Normans, -a Scythian race likewise, but more beautiful, more brave, more -chivalrous, courtly, and polished, than any race that had preceded -them, came triumphant from Italy and France to achieve the conquest of -England, which yielded almost without a struggle. One great battle, and -then no more. William the Norman, or rather the Scythian Frenchman, -ascends the throne of Alfred. Dane and Saxon fall helplessly beneath -his feet, and his tyrannies, his robberies, his confiscations, are -submitted to by the subjugated nation without an effort at resistance. - -His handful of Norman nobles seized upon the lands, the wealth, the -honours, the estates of the kingdom, and retain them to this hour. And -justly; so noble a race as the Norman knights were made for masters. -The Saxons sank at once to the level of serfs, of traders and menials, -from which they have never risen, leaving England divided into a Norman -aristocracy who have all the land, and a Saxon people who have all the -toil; crushed by the final conquerors, they sank to be the sediment of -the kingdom. - -The Irish had a different destiny; for five hundred years they fought -the battle for independence with the Normans, nor did their chiefs sink -to be the pariahs of the kingdom, as the Saxons of England, but retain -their princely pretensions to this day. The O’Connors, the O’Briens, -O’Neils, Kavanaghs, O’Donnels, yield to no family in Europe in pride of -blood and ancestral honours; while, by intermarriage with the Norman -lords, a race was founded of Norman Irish—perhaps the finest specimens -of aristocracy that Europe produced—the Geraldines at their head, -loving Ireland, and of whom Ireland may be proud. - -A hundred years passed by after the Norman conquest of England. Three -kings of the Norman race had reigned and died, and still the conquest -of Ireland was unattempted; no Norman knight had set foot on Irish soil. - -The story of their coming begins with just such a domestic drama as -Homer had turned into an epic two thousand years before. A fair and -faithless woman, a king’s daughter, fled from her husband to the arms -of a lover. All Ireland is outraged at the act. The kings assemble in -conclave and denounce vengeance upon the crowned seducer, Dermot, King -of Leinster. - -He leagues with the Danes of Dublin, the abhorred of his countrymen, -but the only allies he can find in his great need. A battle is fought -in which Dermot is defeated, his castle of Ferns is burned, his -kingdom is taken from him, and he himself is solemnly deposed by the -confederate kings, and banished beyond the seas. Roderick, King of all -Ireland, is the inexorable and supreme judge. He restores the guilty -wife to her husband; but the husband disdains to receive her, and she -retires to a convent, where she expiates her crime and the ruin of her -country by forty years of penance. The only records of her afterwards -are of her good deeds. She built a nunnery at Clonmacnoise; she gave a -chalice of gold to the altar of Mary, and cloth for nine altars of the -Church; and then Dervorgil, the Helen of our Iliad, is heard of no more. - -Dermot, her lover, went to England, seeking aid to recover his kingdom -of Leinster. In a year he returns with a band of Welsh mercenaries, -and marches to Dublin; but is again defeated by the confederate kings, -and obliged to pay a hundred ounces of gold to O’Rourke of Breffny, -“for the wrong he had done him respecting his wife,” and to give up -as hostage to King Roderick his only son. But while parleying with -the Irish kings, Dermot was secretly soliciting English aid, and not -unsuccessfully. - -Memorable was the year 1170, when the renowned Strongbow, Gilbert de -Clare, Earl of Pembroke, and his Norman knights, landed at Wexford to -aid the banished king; and when Dermot welcomed his illustrious allies, -little he thought that by his hand - - “The emerald gem of the Western world, - Was set in the crown of a stranger.” - -The compact with the foreigners was sealed with his son’s blood. No -sooner did King Roderick hear of the Norman landing, than he ordered -the royal Kavanagh, the hostage of King Dermot, to be put to death; and -henceforth a doom seemed to be on the male heirs of the line of Dermot, -as fatal as that which rested upon the house of Atrides. - -Dermot had an only daughter remaining. He offered her in marriage to -the Earl of Pembroke, with the whole kingdom of Leinster for her dowry, -so as he would help him to his revenge. After a great battle against -the Danes, in which the Normans were victorious, the marriage was -celebrated at Waterford. - - “Sad Eva gazed - All round that bridal field of blood, amazed; - Spoused to new fortunes.”[18] - - [18] The Irish Celt to the Irish Norman, from “Poems,” by Aubrey de - Vere. - -No record remains to us of the beauty of the bride, or in what language -the Norman knight wooed her to his arms; this only we know, that -Eva, Queen of Leinster in her own right, and Countess of Pembroke by -marriage, can number amongst her descendants the present Queen of -England. Of the bridegroom, Cambrensis tells us that he was “ruddy, -freckle-faced, grey-eyed, his face feminine, his voice small, his -neck little, yet of a high stature, ready with good words and gentle -speeches.” - -The same authority describes Dermot from personal observation—“A tall -man of stature, of a large and great body, a valiant and bold warrior, -and by reason of his continued hallooing his voice was hoarse. He -rather chose to be feared than loved. Rough and generous, hateful unto -strangers, he would be against all men and all men against him.” - -From Waterford to Dublin was a progress of victory to Dermot and his -allies, for they marched only through the Danish settlements of which -Dermot was feudal lord. At Dublin King Roderick opposed them with an -army. Three days the battle raged; then the Danes of Dublin, fearing -Dermot’s wrath, opened their gates, and offered him gold and silver -in abundance if he would spare their lives; but, heedless of treaties, -the Norman knights rushed in, slew the Danes in their own fortress, -drove the rest to the sea; and thus ended the Danish dynasty of four -centuries. Never more did they own a foot of ground throughout the -length or breadth of the land. An Irish army, aided by Norman skill, -had effected their complete extinction. The Kingdom of Leinster was -regained for Dermot, and he and his allies placed a garrison in -Dublin. This was the last triumph of the ancient race. The kingdom was -lost even at the moment it seemed regained. That handful of Scythian -warriors, scarcely visible amid Dermot’s great Irish army, are destined -to place the yoke upon the neck of ancient Ireland. - -The brave Roderick gathered together another army, and, with sixty -thousand men, laid siege to Dublin, O’Rourke of Breffny aiding him. -They were repulsed. O’Rourke was taken prisoner, and hanged with his -head downwards, then beheaded and the head stuck on one of the centre -gates of the castle, “a spectacle of intense pity to the Irish;” and -Roderick retired into Connaught to recruit more forces. - -There is something heroic and self-devoted in the efforts which, for -eighteen years, were made by Roderick against the Norman power. Brave, -learned, just, and enlightened beyond his age, he alone of all the -Irish princes saw the direful tendency of the Norman inroad. All the -records of his reign prove that he was a wise and powerful monarch. -He had a fleet on the Shannon, the like of which had never been seen -before. He built a royal residence in Connaught, the ruins of which -are still existing to attest its former magnificence, so far beyond -all structures of the period, that it was known in Ireland as the -beautiful house. He founded a chair of literature at Armagh, and left -an endowment in perpetuity, to maintain it for the instruction of the -youth of Ireland and Scotland. A great warrior, and a fervent patriot, -his first effort, when he obtained the crown, was to humble the Danish -power. Dublin was forced to pay him tribute, and he was inaugurated -there with a grandeur and luxury unknown before. When Dermot outraged -morality, he deposed and banished him. When Dermot further sinned, and -traitorously brought over the foreigner, Roderick, with stern justice, -avenged the father’s treason by the son’s life. His own son, the heir -of his kingdom, leagued with the Normans, and was found fighting in -their ranks. Roderick, like a second Brutus, unpitying, yet heroically -just, when the youth was brought a prisoner before him, himself ordered -his eyes to be put out. His second son also turned traitor, and -covenanted with the Normans to deprive his father of the kingdom. Then -Roderick, surrounded by foreign foes and domestic treachery, quitted -Connaught, and went through the provinces of Ireland, seeking to stir -up a spirit as heroic as his own in the hearts of his countrymen. Soon -after his unworthy son was killed in some broil, and Roderick resumed -the kingly functions; but while all the other Irish princes took the -oath of fealty to King Henry, he kept aloof beyond the Shannon, equally -disdaining treachery or submission. His last son, the only one worthy -of him, being defeated in a battle by the Normans, slew himself in -despair. - -The male line of his house was now extinct; the independence of his -country was threatened; Norman power was growing strong in the land, -and his continued efforts for eighteen years to arouse the Irish -princes to a sense of their danger was unavailing. Wearied, disgusted, -heartbroken, it may be, he voluntarily laid down the sceptre and the -crown, and retired to the monastery of Cong, where he became a monk, -and thus, in penance and seclusion, passed ten years—the weary ending -of a fated life. - -He died there, twenty-eight years after the Norman invasion, “after -exemplary penance, victorious over the world and the devil;” and the -chroniclers record his title upon his grave where he is laid— - - “Roderick O’Connor, - King of all Ireland, both of the Irish and English.” - -Seven centuries have passed since then, yet even now, which of us could -enter the beautiful ruins of that ancient abbey, wander through the -arched aisles tapestried by ivy, or tread the lonely silent chapel, -once vocal with prayer and praise, without sad thoughts of sympathy -for the fate of the last monarch of Ireland, and perchance grave -thoughts likewise over the destiny of a people who, on that grave of -native monarchy, independence, and nationality, have as yet written no -RESURGAM. - -Exactly ten months after the Normans took possession of Dublin, -King Dermot, “by whom a trembling sod was made of all Ireland, died -of an insufferable and unknown disease—for he became putrid while -living—without a will, without penance, without the body of Christ, -without unction, as his evil deeds deserved.” - -Immediately the Earl of Pembroke assumed the title of King of Leinster -in right of his wife Eva. Whereupon Henry of England grew alarmed at -the independence of his nobility, and hastened over to assert his -claims as lord paramount. To his remonstrances Strongbow answered, -“What I won was with the sword; what was given me I give you.” An -agreement was then made by which Strongbow retained Dublin, while Henry -appointed what nobles he chose over the other provinces of Leinster. - -When the first Norman monarch landed amongst us, the memorable 18th day -of October, 1172, no resistance was offered by any party; no battle -was fought. The Irish chiefs were so elated at the Danish overthrow, -that they even volunteered oaths of fealty to the foreign prince who -had been in some sort their deliverer. Calmly, as in a state pageant, -Henry proceeded from Wexford to Dublin; his route lay only through the -conquered Danish possessions, now the property of the Countess Eva; -there was no fear therefore of opposition. On reaching the city, “he -caused a royal palace to be built, very curiously contrived of smooth -wattels, after the manner of the country, and there, with the kings and -princes of Ireland, did keep Christmas with great solemnity,” on the -very spot where now stands St. Andrew’s Church. - -King Henry remained six months in Ireland, the longest period which -a foreign monarch has ever passed amongst us, and during that time -he never thought of fighting a battle with the Irish. As yet, the -whole result of Norman victories was the downfall of the Danes, in -which object the Irish had gladly assisted. Strongbow and Eva reigned -peacefully in our capital. Henry placed governors over the other -Danish cities, and in order that Dublin, from which the Danes had been -expelled, might be repeopled, he made a present of our fair city to the -good people of Bristol. - -Accordingly a colony from that town, famed for deficiency in personal -attractions, came over and settled here; but thirty years after, the -Irish, whose instincts of beauty were no doubt offended by the rising -generation of Bristolians, poured down from the Wicklow hills upon -the ill-favoured colony, and made a quick ending of them by a general -massacre. - -In a fit of penitence, also, for the murdered À Becket, Henry founded -the Abbey of Thomas Court, from which Thomas Street derives its name, -and then the excommunicated king quitted Ireland, leaving it unchanged, -save that Henry the Norman held the possessions of Torkil the Dane, and -Dublin, from a Danish, had become a Norman city. Five hundred years -more had to elapse before English jurisdiction extended beyond the -ancient Danish pale, and a Cromwell or a William of Nassau was needed -for the final conquest of Ireland, as well as for the redemption of -England. - -Nothing can be more absurd than to talk of a Saxon conquest of Ireland. -The Saxons, an ignorant, rude, inferior race, could not even maintain -their ascendency in England. They fell before the superior power, -intelligence, and ability of the Norman, and the provinces of Ireland -that fell to the first Norman nobles were in reality not gained by -battles, but by the intermarriage of Norman lords with the daughters -of Irish kings. Hence it was that in right of their wives the Norman -nobles early set up claims independent of the English crown, and the -hereditary rights, being transmitted through each generation, were -perpetually tempting the Norman aristocracy into rebellion. English -supremacy was as uneasily borne by the De Lacys, the Geraldines, the -Butlers, and others of the Norman stock, as by the O’Connors, the -Kavanaghs, the O’Neils, or the O’Briens. The great Richard de Burgho -married Odierna, grand-daughter of Cathal Crovdearg, king of Connaught. -Hence the De Burghos assumed the title of Lords of Connaught. - -King Roderick, as we have said, left no male issue. His kingdom -descended to his daughter, who married the Norman knight, Hugo de Lacy. -Immediately De Lacy set up a claim as independent prince in right of -his wife, assumed legal state, took the title of King of Meath, and -appeared in public with a golden crown upon his head, and so early as -twenty-five years after the invasion, John de Courcy and the son of -this De Lacy marched _against_ the English of Leinster and Munster. -Many a romance could be woven of the destiny and vicissitudes of this -great race, half Irish, half Norman; independent princes by the one -side, and English subjects by the other. - -The great Earl of Pembroke lived but a few years after his capture of -Dublin. The Irish legends say that St. Bridget killed him. However, he -and Eva had no male heir, and only one daughter, named Isabel, after -the Earl’s mother, who was also aunt to the reigning king of Scotland. - -This young girl was sole heiress of Leinster and of her father’s Welsh -estates. Richard Cœur de Lion took her to his court at London, and she -became his ward. In due time she married William Marshall, called the -great Earl, hereditary Earl Marshal of England, and Earl of Pembroke -and Leinster, in right of his wife. High in office and favour with the -king, we read that he carried the sword of state before Richard at his -coronation, and as a monument of his piety, he left Tintern Abbey, in -the County Wexford, erected by him on his wife’s property. - -Isabel and Earl William had five sons and five daughters. The five -sons, William, Walter, Gilbert, Anselm, and Richard (Isabel called no -son of hers after the royal traitor Dermot, her grandfather) inherited -the title in succession, and all died childless. We have said there was -a doom upon Dermot’s male posterity. - -The inheritance was then divided between the five daughters, each of -whom received a province for a dower. Carlow, Kilkenny, the Queen’s -County, Wexford, and Kildare were the five portions. Maud, the eldest, -married the Earl of Norfolk, who became Earl Marshal of England in -right of his wife. - -Isabel, the second, married the Earl of Gloucester, and her -granddaughter, Isabel also, was mother to the great Robert Bruce, who -was therefore great-great-great-grandson of Eva and Strongbow. Eva, -the third daughter, married the Lord de Breos, and from a daughter of -hers, named Eva likewise, descended Edward the Fourth, King of England, -through whose granddaughter Margaret Queen of Scotland, daughter of -Henry the Seventh, the present reigning family of England claim their -right to the throne. Through two lines, therefore, our Most Gracious -Majesty can trace back her pedigree to Eva the Irish princess. - -Joan, whose portions were Wexford, married Lord Valentia, half-brother -to King Henry the Third, and the male line failing, the inheritance was -divided between two daughters, from one of whom the Talbots, Earls of -Shrewsbury, inherit their Wexford estates. - -From Sybil, the youngest, who married the Earl of Ferrars and Derby, -descended the Earls of Winchester, the Lords Mortimer, and other noble -races. She had seven daughters, who all married Norman lords, so that -scarcely a family could be named of the high and ancient English -nobility, whose wealth has not been increased by the estates of Eva, -the daughter of King Dermot; and thus it came to pass that Leinster -fell by marriage and inheritance, not by conquest, into the possession -of the great Norman families, who, of course, acknowledged the King -of England as their sovereign; and the English monarchs assumed -thenceforth the title of Lords of Ireland—a claim which they afterwards -enforced over the whole country. - -The destiny of the descendants of De Lacy and King Roderick’s daughter -was equally remarkable. They had two sons, Hugh and Walter, who, -before they were twenty-one, threw off English allegiance, and set up -as independent princes. To avoid the wrath of King John they fled to -France, and took refuge in an abbey, where, disguised as menials, the -two young noblemen found employment in garden-digging, preparing mud -and bricks, and similar work. By some chance the abbot suspected the -disguise, and finally detected the princes in the supposed peasants. -He used his knowledge of their secret to obtain their pardon from King -John, and Hugh De Lacy was created Earl of Ulster. He left an only -daughter, his sole heir. She married a De Burgho, who, in right of -his wife, became Earl of Ulster, and from them descended Ellen, wife -of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland. It is singular that the mother -of Robert Bruce should have been descended from Eva, and his wife -from King Roderick’s daughter. The granddaughter of Robert Bruce, -the Princess Margery, married the Lord High Steward of Scotland, and -through her the Stuarts claimed the crown. From thence it is easy to -trace how the royal blood of the three kingdoms meet in the reigning -family of England. Another descendant of the Earls of Ulster (an only -daughter likewise) married Lionel, Duke of Clarence, son of Edward the -Third, who, in the right of his wife, became Earl of Ulster and Lord of -Connaught, and these titles finally merged in the English crown in the -person of Edward the Fourth. From all these genealogies one fact may -be clearly deduced, that the present representative of the royal Irish -races of Eva and Roderick, and the lineal heiress of their rights, is -Her Majesty Queen Victoria. - -The proud and handsome race of Norman Irish, that claimed descent -from these intermarriages, were the nobles, of whom it was said, -“They were more Irish than the Irish themselves.” The disposition -to become independent of England was constantly manifested in them. -They publicly asserted their rights, renounced the English dress and -language, and adopted Irish names. Thus Sir Ulick Burke, ancestor of -Lord Clanricarde, became MacWilliam Oughter (or upper), and Sir Edmond -Albanagh, progenitor of the Earl of Mayo, became MacWilliam Eighter -(or lower). Richard, son of the Earl of Norfolk, and grandson of Eva, -set up a claim to be independent King of Leinster, and was slain by -the English. We have seen that Walter and Hugh De Lacy, grandsons of -Roderick, were in open rebellion against King John. A hundred years -later, two of the same race, named Walter and Hugh likewise, were -proclaimed traitors for aiding the army of Robert Bruce, who claimed -the crown of Ireland for his brother Edward, and the two De Lacys were -found dead by the side of Edward Bruce at the great battle of Dundalk, -where the Scotch forces were overthrown. - -Once, even the Geraldines and the Fitzmaurices took prisoner the -Justiciary of Dublin, as the Lord-Lieutenant of that day was named. -Meanwhile the Irish princes of the West retained their independence; -sometimes at feud, sometimes in amity with the English of the Eastern -coast. We read that “the English of Dublin invited Hugh, King of -Connaught, to a conference, and began to deal treacherously with -him; but William Mareschall, his friend, coming in with his forces, -rescued him, in despite of the English, from the middle of the Court, -and escorted him to Connaught.” Both races were equally averse to -the domination of the English crown. The Geraldines and Butlers, the -De Burghos and De Lacys, were as intractable as the O’Connors of -Connaught, or the O’Neils of Tyrone; even more so. The Great O’Neil -submitted to Elizabeth; but two hundred years later the Geraldines had -still to add the name of another martyr for liberty to the roll of -their illustrious ancestors. - -Frequently the Normans fought amongst themselves as fiercely as if -opposed to the Irish. The Earl of Ulster, a De Burgho, the same who -is recorded to have given the first entertainment at Dublin Castle, -took his kinsman, Walter Burke, prisoner, and had him starved to death -in his own castle; a tragedy which might have been made as memorable -as that of Ugolino in the _Torre del Fame_, had there been a Dante in -Ireland to record it. For this act the kinsmen of Walter Burke murdered -the Earl of Ulster on the Lord’s Day, as he was kneeling at his -prayers, and cleft his head in two with a sword. - -It was unfortunate for Ireland that her Irish princes were so -unconquerable, and that her Norman lords should have caught the -infection of resistance to the crown. Eight hundred years ago the -Saxons of England peaceably settled down with the Normans to form one -nation, with interests and objects identical. - -The Norman conquerors, better fitted, perhaps, for rulers than any -other existing in Europe, established at once a strong, vigorous -government in England. The Kings, as individuals, may have been weak -or tyrannous, but there was a unity of purpose, a sense of justice, -and a vigour of will existing in the ruling class that brought the -ruled speedily under the order and discipline of laws. Not a century -and a half had elapsed from the Conquest before Magna Charta and -representation by Parliament secured the liberty of the people against -the caprices of kings; and the Norman temperament which united in a -singular degree the instincts of loyalty with the love of freedom, -became the hereditary national characteristic of Englishmen. But -Ireland never, at any time, comprehended the word nationality. From of -old it was broken up into fragments, ruled by chiefs whose principal -aim was mutual destruction. There was no unity, therefore no strength. - -If, at the time of the Norman invasion, a king of the race had settled -here as in England, the Irish would gradually have become a nation -under one ruler, in place of being an aggregate of warring tribes; but -for want of this chief corner-stone the Norman nobles themselves became -but isolated chiefs—new petty kings added to the old—each for himself, -none for the country. It was contrary to all natural laws that the -proud Irish princes, with the traditions of their race going back two -thousand years, should at once serve with love and loyalty a foreign -king whose face they never saw and from whom they derived no benefits. -And thus it was that five hundred years elapsed, from Henry Plantagenet -to William of Nassau, before Ireland was finally adjusted in her -subordinate position to the English crown. - -Meanwhile the Danish Dublin was fast rising into importance as the -Norman city, the capital of the English pale. Within that circle -the English laws, language, manners and religion were implicitly -adopted; without, there was a fierce, warlike, powerful people, the -ancient lords of the soil, but with them the citizens of Dublin had -no affinity; and the object of the English rulers was to keep the two -races as distinct as possible. Amongst other enactments tending to -obliterate any feeling of kindred which might exist, the inhabitants -of the pale were ordered to adopt English surnames, derived from -everything which by the second commandment we are forbidden to worship. -Hence arose the tribes of fishes—cod, haddock, plaice, salmon, gurnet, -gudgeon, &c.; and of birds—crow, sparrow, swan, pigeon; and of trades, -as carpenter, smith, baker, mason; and of colours—the blacks, whites, -browns, and greens, which in Dublin so copiously replace the grand old -historic names of the provinces. Determined also on annihilating the -picturesque, at least in the individual, lest the outward symbol might -be taken for an inward affinity, the long flowing hair and graceful -mantle, after the Irish fashion, were forbidden to be worn within the -pale. - -Neither was the Irish language tolerated within the English -jurisdiction, for which Holingshed gives good reason, after this -fashion—“And here,” he says, “some snappish carpers will snuffingly -snib me for debasing the Irish language, but my short discourse tendeth -only to this drift, that it is not expedient that the Irish tongue -should be so universally gagled in the English pale; for where the -country is subdued, there the inhabitants should be ruled by the same -laws that the conqueror is governed, wear the same fashion of attire -with which the victor is vested, and speak the same language which -the victor parleth; and if any of these lack, doubtless the conquest -limpeth.” The English tongue, however, seems to have been held in -utter contempt and scorn by the Irish allies of the pale. After the -submission of the Great O’Neil, the last who held the title of king in -Ireland, which he exchanged for that of Earl of Tyrone, as a mark and -seal of his allegiance to Queen Elizabeth, “One demanded merrilie,” -says Holingshed, “why O’Neil would not frame himself to speak English? -‘What,’ quoth the other in a rage, ‘thinkest thou it standeth with -O’Neil his honour to writhe his mouth in clattering English.’” - -As regarded religion, the English commanded the most implicit obedience -to the Pope, under as strict and severe penalties as, five hundred -years later, they enacted against those who acknowledged his authority. -One provision of the ancient oath imposed upon the subjugated Irish -was—“You acknowledge yourself to be of the Mother Church of Rome, now -professed by all Christians.” But, that the Irish of that era little -heeded papal or priestly ordinances may be inferred from the fact that, -during the wars of Edward Bruce, the English complained that their -Irish auxiliaries were more exhausting than the Scots, as they ate -meat all the time of Lent; and it is recorded, that in 1133, when the -Leinster Irish rose against the English, “they set fire to everything, -even the churches, and burned the church of Dunleary, with eighty -persons in it, and even when the priest in his sacred vestments, and -carrying the Host in his hands, tried to get out, they drove him back -with their spears and burned him. For this they were excommunicated -by a Papal Bull, and the country was put under an interdict. But they -despised these things, and again wasted the county of Wexford.”[19] - - [19] Grace’s Annals. Rev. R. Butler’s translation. - -The energetic and organizing spirit of the Normans was, however, -evidenced by better deeds than those we have named. Courts of law -were established in Dublin, a mayor and corporation instituted, and -Parliaments were convened after the English fashion. Within fifty years -after the Norman settlement, the lordly pile of Dublin Castle rose upon -the site of the old Danish fortress, built, indeed, to overawe the -Irish, as William the Conqueror built the Tower of London to overawe -the English; yet, by Norman hands, the first regal residence was given -to our metropolis. St. Patrick’s Cathedral was next elected by the -colonists, and gradually our fair city rose into beauty and importance -through Norman wealth and Norman skill. From henceforth, the whole -interest of Irish history centres in the chief city of the pale, and -the history of Dublin becomes the history of English rule in Ireland. -For centuries its position was that of a besieged city in the midst -of a hostile country; for centuries it resisted the whole force of -the native race; and finally triumphantly crushed, annihilated, and -revenged every effort made for Irish independence. - -In truth, Dublin is a right royal city, and never fails in reverential -respect towards her English mother. - -Many great names are associated with the attempt to write a history -of Dublin. The work in all ages was laborious; there were no printed -books to consult, and the records of Ireland, as Hooker complains -three hundred years ago, “were verie slenderlie and disorderlie kept.” -Whitelaw’s work, though it employed two editors ten hours a day for -ten years, yet goes no farther than a description of the public -buildings; but the object of Mr. Gilbert’s history is distinct from -all that precedes it. It is from the decaying streets and houses -that he disentombs great memories, great fragments of past life. It -is not a mere record of Ionic pillars, Corinthian capitals, or Doric -pediments he gives us. Whitelaw has supplied whole catalogues of these; -but records of the human life, that has throbbed through the ancient -dwellings of our city century after century; of the vicissitudes of -families, to be read in their ruined mansions; of the vast political -events which in some room, in some house, on some particular night, -branded the stigmata deeper on the country; or the tragedies of great -hopes crushed, young blood shed, victims hopelessly sacrificed, which -have made some street, some house, some chamber, for ever sacred. - -The labours of such an undertaking are manifest; yet none can -appreciate them fully who has not known what it is to spend days, -weeks, months buried in decaying parchments, endless pipe-rolls, -worm-eaten records, dusty deeds and leases, excavating some fact, or -searching for some link necessary for the completion of a tale, or the -elucidation of a truth. - -Mr. Gilbert tells us that twelve hundred statutes and enactments of -the Anglo-Irish Parliament still remain unpublished. From these and -such-like decayed and decaying manuscripts, ancient records which -have become almost hieroglyphics to the present age, he has gathered -the life-history of an ancient city; he has made the stones to speak, -and evoked the shadows of the past to fill up the outline of a great -historical picture. - -Fifty, even twenty years hence, the production of such a work would -be impossible; the ancient records will probably have perished; the -ancient houses, round which the curious may yet gather, will have -fallen to the ground; and the ancient race, who cherished in their -hearts the legends of the past with the fidelity of priests, and the -fervour of bards, will have almost passed away. - -Dublin is fortunate, therefore, in finding a historian endowed with -the ability, the energetic literary industry, the untiring spirit of -research, and the vast amount of antiquarian knowledge necessary for -the production of so valuable a work, before records perish, mansions -fall, or races vanish. - -In a history illustrated by human lives and deeds, and localized in -the weird old streets, once the proudest, now the meanest of our city, -many a family will find an ancestral shadow starting suddenly to light, -trailing long memories with it of departed fashion, grandeur, and -magnificence. - -Few amongst us who tread the Dublin of the present in all its beauty, -think of the Dublin of the past in all its contrasted insignificance. -True, the eternal features are the same; the landscape setting of the -city is coeval with creation. Tyrian, Dane, and Norman have looked as -we look, and with hearts as responsive to Nature’s loveliness, upon the -emerald plains, the winding rivers, the hills draperied in violet and -gold, the mountain gorges, thunder-riven, half veiled by the foam of -the waterfall, and the eternal ocean encircling all; scenes where God -said a city should arise, and the mountain and the ocean are still, as -of old, the magnificent heritage of beauty conferred on our metropolis. - -But the early races, whether from southern sea or northern plain, -did little to aid the beauty of nature with the products of human -intellect. Dublin, under the Danish rule, consisted only of a fortress, -a church, and one rude street. Under the rule of the Normans, -those great civilizers of the western world, those grand energetic -organizers, temple and tower builders, it rose gradually into a -beautiful capital, the chief city of Ireland, the second city of the -empire. At first the rudimental metropolis gathered round the castle, -as nebulæ round a central sun, and from this point it radiated westward -and southward; the O’Briens on the south, the O’Connors on the west, -the O’Neils on the north, perpetually hovering on the borders, but -never able to regain the city, never able to dislodge the brave Norman -garrison who had planted their banners on the castle walls. In that -castle, during the seven hundred years of its existence, no Irishman of -the old race has ever held rule for a single hour. - -And what a history it has of tragedies and splendours; crowned and -discrowned monarchs flit across the scene, and tragic destinies, -likewise, may be recorded of many a viceroy! Piers Gravestone, -Lord-Lieutenant of King Edward, murdered; Roger Mortimer—“The Gentle -Mortimer”—hanged at Tyburn; the Lord Deputy of King Richard II. -murdered by the O’Briens; whereupon the King came over to avenge his -death, just a year before he himself was so ruthlessly murdered at -Pomfret Castle. Two viceroys died of the plague; how many more were -plagued to death, history leaves unrecorded; one was beheaded at -Drogheda; three were beheaded on Tower Hill. Amongst the names of -illustrious Dublin rulers may be found those of Prince John, the boy -Deputy of thirteen; Prince Lionel, son of Edward III., who claimed -Clare in right of his wife, and assumed the title of Clarence from -having conquered it from the O’Briens. - -The great Oliver Cromwell was the Lord-Lieutenant of the Parliament, -and he in turn appointed his son Henry to succeed him. Dire are the -memories connected with Cromwell’s reign here, both to his own party -and to Ireland. Ireton died of the plague after the siege of Limerick; -General Jones died of the plague after the surrender of Dungarvon; a -thousand of Cromwell’s men died of the plague before Waterford. The -climate, in its effect upon English constitutions, seems to be the -great Nemesis of Ireland’s wrongs. - -Strange scenes, dark, secret, and cruel, have been enacted in that -gloomy pile. No one has told the full story yet. It will be a Ratcliffe -romance of dungeons and treacheries, of swift death or slow murder. -God and St. Mary were invoked in vain for the luckless Irish prince -or chieftain that was caught in that Norman stronghold; but that was -in the old time—long, long ago. Now the castle courts are crowded -only with loyal and courtly crowds, gathered to pay homage to the -illustrious successor of a hundred viceroys. - -The strangest scene, perhaps, in the annals of vice-royalty, was when -Lord Thomas Fitzgerald (Silken Thomas), son of the Earl of Kildare, -and Lord-Lieutenant in his father’s absence, took up arms for Irish -independence. He rode through the city with seven score horsemen, in -shirts of mail and silken fringes on their head-pieces (hence the name -Silken Thomas), to St. Mary’s Abbey, and there entering the council -chamber, he flung down the sword of state upon the table, and bade -defiance to the king and his ministers; then hastening to raise an -army, he laid siege to Dublin Castle, but with no success. Silken -Thomas and his five uncles were sent to London, and there executed; and -sixteen Fitzgeralds were hanged and quartered at Dublin. By a singular -fatality, no plot laid against Dublin Castle ever succeeded; though to -obtain possession of this foreign fortress was the paramount wish of -all Irish rebel leaders. This was the object with Lord Maguire and his -Catholics, with Lord Edward Fitzgerald and his republicans, with Emmet -and his enthusiasts, with Smith O’Brien and his nationalists—yet they -all failed. Once only, during seven centuries, the green flag waved -over Dublin Castle, with the motto—“NOW OR NEVER! NOW AND FOR EVER!” It -was when Tyrconnel held it for King James. - -In the ancient stormy times of Norman rule, the nobility naturally -gathered round the Castle. Skinner’s Row was the “May Fair” of mediæval -Dublin. Hoey’s Court, Castle Street, Cook Street, Fishamble Street, -Bridge Street, Werburgh Street, High Street, Golden Lane, Back Lane, -&c., were the fashionable localities inhabited by lords and bishops, -chancellors and judges; and Thomas Street was the grand prado where -viceregal pomp and Norman pride were oftenest exhibited. A hundred -years ago the Lord-Lieutenant was entertained at a ball by Lord -Mountjoy in Back Lane. Skinner’s Row was distinguished by the residence -of the great race of the Geraldines, called “Carbrie House,” which from -them passed to the Dukes of Ormond, and after many vicissitudes, the -palace from which Silken Thomas went forth to give his young life for -Irish independence, fell into decay, “and on its site now stand the -houses known as 6, 7, and 8 Christ Church Place, in the lower stories -of which still exist some of the old oak beams of the Carbrie House.” - -In Skinner’s Row also, two hundred years ago, dwelt Sir Robert Dixon, -Mayor of Dublin, who was knighted at his own house there by the -Lord-Lieutenant, the afterwards unfortunate Strafford. The house has -fallen to ruins, but the vast property conferred on him by Charles -I. for his good services, has descended to the family of Sir Kildare -Burrowes, of Kildare. In those brilliant days of Skinner’s Row, it was -but seventeen feet wide, and the pathways but one foot broad. All its -glories have vanished now; even the name no longer exists; yet the -remains of residences once inhabited by the magnificent Geraldines and -Butlers can still be traced. - -Every stone throughout this ancient quarter of Dublin has a history. In -Cook Street Lord Maguire was arrested at midnight, under circumstances -very similar to the capture of Lord Edward Fitzgerald; and “to -commemorate this capture in the parish it was the annual custom, down -to the year 1829, to toll the bells of St. Andrew’s Church at twelve -o’clock on the night of the 22nd of October.” - -In Bridge Street great lords and peers of the realm resided. The -Marquis of Antrim, the Duke of Marlborough’s father; Westenra, the -Dutch merchant who founded the family afterwards ennobled, and others. -It was the Merrion Square of the day. In Bridge Street the rebellion -of ’98 was organized at the house of Oliver Bond; and one night Major -Swan, led by Reynolds the informer, seized twelve gentlemen there, all -of whom were summarily hanged as rebels. Castle Street was the focus of -the rebellion of 1641; Sir Phelim O’Neill and Lord Maguire had their -residences there, and concocted together how to seize the Castle, -destroy all the lords and council, and re-establish Popery in Ireland. -But a more useful man than either lived there also—Sir James Ware, -whose indefatigable ardour in the cause of Irish literature caused him -to collect, with great trouble and expense, a vast number of Irish -manuscripts, which, after passing through many vicissitudes, are now -deposited in the British Museum. The French family of Latouche came to -Castle Street about one hundred years ago, and one of them, in 1778, -upheld the shattered credit of the Government by a loan of £20,000 -to the Lord-Lieutenant. Fishamble Street has historical and classic -memories, and traditions of Handel consecrate this now obscure locality. - -Handel spent a year in Dublin. His “Messiah” was composed there, and -first performed for the benefit of Mercer’s Hospital. How content -he was with his reception is expressed in a letter to a friend. “I -cannot,” he says, “sufficiently express the kind treatment I receive -here, but the politeness of this generous nation cannot be unknown to -you.” - -Dublin Quays are likewise illustrated by great names. On Usher’s -Quay may still be seen the once magnificent Moira House, the -princely residence of Lord Moira, afterwards Marquis of Hastings, -Governor-General of India. A hundred years ago it was the Holland House -of Dublin, sparkling with all the wit, splendour, rank, and influence -of the metropolis. The decorations were unsurpassed in the kingdom for -beauty and grandeur. The very windows were inlaid with mother-o’-pearl. - -After the Union, the family in disgust quitted Ireland; Moira house -was left tenantless for some years, and then finally was sold for the -use of the pauper poor of Dublin. The decorations were removed, the -beautiful gardens turned into offices, the upper story of the edifice -was taken off, and the entire building pauperized as much as possible -to suit its inmates and its title—“The Mendicity.” - -In the good old times the Lord Mayor treated the Lord-Lieutenant to a -new play every Christmas, when the Corporation acted Mysteries upon -the stage in Hoggin Green, where the College now stands. The Mysteries -were on various subjects. In one, the tailors had orders to find Pilate -and his wife clothed accordingly; the butchers were to supply the -tormentors; the mariners and vintners represented Noah. At that period -the Lord-Lieutenants held their court at Kilmainham, or Thomas Court, -for Dublin Castle was not made a viceregal residence until the reign -of Elizabeth. The parliaments, too, were ambulatory. Sometimes they -met in the great aisle of Christ Church, that venerable edifice whose -echoes have been destined to give back such conflicting sounds. What -changes in its ritual and its worshippers! What scenes have passed -before its high altar since first erected by the Danish bishop, whose -body, in pallium and mitre, lay exposed to view but a few years since, -after a sleep of eight hundred years. Irish kings and Norman conquerors -have trod the aisles. There Roderick was inaugurated, the last king -of Ireland; there Strongbow sleeps, first of the Norman conquerors, -and, until the middle of the last century, all payments were made at -his tomb, as if in him alone, living or dead, the citizens had their -strength; there Lambert Simnel was crowned with a crown taken from the -head of the Virgin Mary; there Cromwell worshipped before he went forth -to devastate; there the last Stuart knelt in prayer before he threw -the last stake at the Boyne for an empire; and there William of Nassau -knelt in gratitude for the victory, with the crown upon his head, -forgotten by James in his ignominious flight. - -And how many rituals have risen up to heaven from that ancient altar, -each _anathema maranatha_ to the other—the solemn chants of the early -church; the gorgeous ritual of the mass; in Elizabeth’s time, the -simple liturgy of the English Church in the English tongue; this, too, -was prohibited in its turn, and for ten years the Puritans wailed and -howled against kings and liturgies in the ancient edifice; there the -funeral oration for the death of Cromwell was pronounced, entitled, -“_Threni Hibernici_, or Ireland sympathizing with England for the loss -of their Josiah (Oliver Cromwell).” Once again rose the incense of the -mass while King James was amongst us; but William quenched the lights -on the altar, and established once more the English Liturgy in its -simplicity and beauty. But so little, during all these changes, had -the Irish to do with the cathedral of their capital, that by an Act -passed in 1380 no Irishman was permitted to hold in it any situation or -office; and so strictly was the law enforced, that Sir John Stevenson -was the first Irishman admitted, as even vicar-choral. - -Many are the themes of interest to be found in Mr. Gilbert’s “History -of Dublin,” concerning those ancient times when Sackville Street was a -marsh, Merrion Square an exhausted quarry, the undulations so beautiful -in its present verdant state being but the accident of excavation; when -St. Stephen’s Green, with its ten fine Irish acres, was a compound -of meadow, quagmire, and ditch; when Mountjoy Square was a howling -wilderness, and North Georges Street and Summer Hill were far away -in the country, and when the Danes, rudely expelled by Norman swords -from the south of the Liffey, were stealing over the river to found a -settlement on the north side. - -Our fathers have told us of Dublin in later times, before the Union, -when a hundred lords and two hundred commoners enriched and enlivened -our city with their wealth and magnificence. Dublin was then at the -summit of its glory; but when the colonists sold their parliament -to England, and the Lords and Commons vanished, and their mansions -became hospitals and poorhouses, and all wealth, power, influence, -and magnificence were transferred to the loved mother country, then -the “City of the Dark Water” sank into very pitiable insignificance. -The proud Norman spirit of independence was broken at last, and there -was no great principle to replace it. Having no large sympathies with -the Irish nation, no idea of country, nationality, or any other grand -word by which is expressed the resolve of self-reliant men to be -self-governed, the colonists became petty, paltry, and selfish in aim; -imitative in manners and feelings; apathetic, even antagonistic to all -national advance; bound to England by helpless fear and servile hope; -content so as they could rest under her great shadow, secure from the -mysterious horrors of Popery, preserved in the blessing of a church -establishment, and allowed to worship even the shadow of transcendent -Majesty. Then Dublin ambition was satisfied and happy; for there is -no word so instinctively abhorrent, so invincibly opposed to all the -prejudices of Dublin society, as patriotism. - -From this cursory glance over the antecedents of our metropolis, the -cause of her anti-Irishism is plainly deducible from the fact, that -at no epoch was Dublin an Irish city. The inhabitants are a blended -race, descended of Danes, Normans, Saxon settlers, and mongrel Irish. -The country of their affections is England. They have known no other -mother. With the proud old princes and chiefs of the ancient Irish race -they have no more affinity than (to use Mr. Macaulay’s illustration) -the English of Calcutta with the nation of Hindustan, and from this -colonial position a certain Dublin idiosyncrasy of character has -resulted, which makes the capital distinct in feeling from the rest of -Ireland. - -Meanwhile the destiny of the ancient race is working out, not in -happiness or prosperity, but in stern, severe discipline. Unchanged -and unchangeable they remain, so far as change is effected by impulses -arising from within. “Two thousand years,” says Moore, “have passed -over the hovel of the Irish peasant in vain.” Such as they were when -the first light of history rested on them, they are now; indolent -and dreamy, patient and resigned as fatalists, fanatical as Bonzees, -implacable as Arabs, cunning as Greeks, courteous as Spaniards, -superstitious as savages, loving as children, clinging to the old home -and the old sod and the old families with a tenderness that is always -beautiful, sometimes heroic; loving to be ruled, with veneration in -excess; ready to die like martyrs for a creed, a party, or the idol -of the hour, but incapable of extending their sympathies beyond the -family or the clan; content with the lowest place in Europe; stationary -amid progression; isolated from the European family; without power or -influence; lazily resting in the past while the nations are wrestling -in the present for the future. Children of the ocean, yet without -commerce; idle by thousands, yet without manufactures; gifted with -quick intellect and passionate hearts, yet literature and art die -out amongst them for want of aid or sympathy; without definite aims, -without energy or the earnestness which is the vital life of heroic -deeds; dark and blind through prejudice and ignorance, they can neither -resist nobly nor endure wisely; chafing in bondage, yet their epileptic -fits of liberty are marked only by wild excesses, and end only in -sullen despair. - -Yet it was not in the providence of God that the fine elements of -humanity in such a people should still continue to waste and stagnate -during centuries of inaction, while noble countries and fruitful lands, -lying silent since creation, were waiting the destined toilers and -workers, who, by the sweat of the brow, shall change them to living -empires. - -Two terrible calamities fell upon Ireland—famine and pestilence; and -by these two dread ministers of God’s great purposes, the Irish race -were uprooted and driven forth to fulfil their appointed destiny. A -million of our people emigrated; a million of our people died under -these judgments of God. Seventeen millions worth of property passed -from time-honoured names into the hands of strangers. The echoes of -the old tongue—call it Pelasgian, Phœnician, Celtic, Irish, what you -will, still the oldest in Europe, is dying out at last along the stony -plains of Mayo and the wild sea-cliffs of the storm-rent western shore. -Scarcely a million and a half are left of people too old to emigrate, -amidst roofless cabins and ruined villages, who speak that language -now. Exile, confiscation, or death, was the final fate written on the -page of history for the much-enduring children of Ireland. One day they -may reassert themselves in the new world, or in other lands. Australia, -with its skies of beauty and its pavement of gold, may be given to -them as America to the Saxon, but how low must a nation have fallen at -home when even famine and plague come to be welcomed as the levers of -progression and social elevation. Some wise purpose of God’s providence -lies, no doubt, at the reverse side, but we have not yet turned the -leaf. - -The ancient race who, thousands of years ago, left the cradle of the -sun to track him to the ocean, are now flung on the coast of another -hemisphere to begin once more their destined westward march; and like -the Israelites of old, they, too, might tell in that new country: “A -Syrian ready to perish was our father!” - -They fled across the Atlantic like a drift of autumn -leaves—“pestilence-stricken multitudes”—and the sea was furrowed by the -dead as the plague-ships passed along. - -One would say a doom had been laid upon our people—the wandering Io of -humanity—a destiny of weeping and unrest. - -Of old the kings at Tara sat throned with their faces to the west: was -it a symbol or a prophecy of the future of their nation? when from -every hill in Ireland could be seen— - - “The remnant of our people - Sweeping westward, wild and woful, - Like the cloud-rack of a tempest, - Like the withered leaves of autumn.” - -From the Atlantic to the Pacific, where the Rocky Mountains bar like a -portal the land of gold—through the islands of the Southern Ocean to -the great desolate world of Australia, seeking as it were the lost home -of their fathers, and doomed to make the circuit of the earth—still -onward flows the tide of human life—that inexhaustible race which -has cleared the forests of Canada, built the cities and made all the -railroads of the States, given thousands to the red plains of the -Crimea, overran California and peopled Australia—the race whose destiny -has made them the instruments of all civilization, though they have -never reaped its benefits. - -Yet we cannot believe that the Irish race is doomed for ever to work -and suffer without the glory of success; for the Celtic element is -necessary to humanity as a great factor in human progress. It is the -subtle, spiritual fire that warms and permeates the ruder clay of other -races, giving them new, vivid, and magnetic impulses to growth and -expansion. - -The children of the early wanderers from the Isles of the Sea -will still continue to fulfil their mission as world-workers and -world-movers. Across the breadth of earth they will found new nations, -each a greater and a stronger Ireland, where they will have the -certainty of power, station, and reward denied them at home. But -neither change nor progress nor the severing ocean will destroy the -electric chain that binds them lovingly to their ancient mother in that -true sympathy with country and kinship that ever burns in the Irish -heart. - -The new Ireland across the seas, whether in America or in Australia, -will still cherish with sacred devotion the beautiful legends, the -pathetic songs, the poetry and history and the heroic traditions of the -old, well-loved country as eternal verses of the Bible of humanity, -with all the light and music of the fanciful fairy period, such as I -have tried to gather into a focus in these volumes, along with the -holy memories of those martyrs of our race whose names are for ever -associated with the words Liberty and Nationhood, but whose tragic fate -has illustrated so many mournful pages in the history of the Irish -past. - - - - - ON THE ANCIENT RACES OF IRELAND.[20] - - -That there was a time—after “the Spirit of God moved on the face -of the waters, and separated the dry land from the sea”—when the -present British Isles formed a continuous and integral portion of the -European Continent is the received opinion of the scientific. With -that continuity of surface (whether before or after the glacial period -matters not in the present inquiry) there was, we know, a uniform -dispersion of vegetable and animal life over this portion of the globe; -and so long as this country enjoyed the temperature and climate it now -possesses, it must have been an emerald land—humid, green, and fertile, -affording pasturage and provender for the largest herbivoræ—the -mammoth, elephant, and musk ox, the reindeer, the wild boar, and -perhaps even the woolly rhinoceros. The primitive races of horned -cattle, possibly the red deer, and undoubtedly the largest and noblest -of cervine creatures, the gigantic Irish deer, or _Cervus megaceros_, -besides the wild pig, and smaller mammals, as well as birds and fishes -innumerable, must then have existed here. - - [20] Extracts from the Address to the Anthropological Section of - the British Association. Belfast, 1874. By Sir WILLIAM WILDE, M.D., - M.R.I.A., Chevalier of the Swedish Order of the North Star. - -How long that condition of the land known now as Ireland existed, -what geological revolutions occurred, or what time elapsed during its -continuance, is but matter of speculation; but a “repeal of the union” -took place, and Great Britain and Ireland became as they now are, and -as they are likely to remain, geographically separated, although united -in interest as well as government. In all probability the great pine -forests, with some of the yews, the oaks, and the birch, had at this -time been submerged beneath the lowest strata of our bogs. - -It was after this epoch, I believe, that man first set foot upon the -shores of Erin—a country well wooded, abundantly stocked with animals, -and abounding in all nature’s blessings suited to the well-being of -the human race; with fowls in its woods and on its shores; fish in its -seas, lakes and rivers; deer and other game in its forest glades, oxen -on its pastures, fuel in its bogs; and a climate, although moist and -variable, on the whole mild and temperate. - -Let us now go back for a moment and take a glance at the map of -the world. The sacred writings tell us, and the investigations of -historians, antiquarians, and philologists confirm the statement, that -the cradle of mankind was somewhere between the Caspian Sea and the -great River Euphrates. Without entering too minutely into the subject, -I may state briefly that the human family separated in process of -time into three great divisions—the African, the Asiatic, and the -Indo-European. With the latter only we have to deal. As population -increased, it threw off its outshoots; and emigration, the great -safeguard of society, and the ordained means of peopling as well as -cultivating and civilizing the earth, began to impel the races and -tribes still farther and farther from the birthplace of humanity. But -in those days the process was somewhat slower and more gradual than -that which now sends an Irish family across 3,500 miles of ocean in a -week. - -With but the rudest means of transit, hordes of the primitive races -passed up the banks of the great rivers, the Euphrates, the Nile, the -Volga, the Danube, and the Rhone; while other tribes, in all likelihood -more advanced and cultivated, wandered along the coasts, peopling as -they went the northern shores of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. - -That an early and uncultivated people passed up the Danube in their -immigration, and settled for centuries on its banks, when Europe was -a tangled wilderness, inhabited by the auroch and the gigantic deer, -there can be no manner of doubt; for they have left memorials of their -existence in the unerring and enduring remains of their sepulchres, -their tools, and weapons, from the Black Sea to Switzerland and Savoy. -In Switzerland this primitive people rested for a considerable period, -perhaps for many centuries, forming for themselves those peculiar piled -lacustrine habitations on the shores of its picturesque inland waters, -known as “Pfaulbauten”—the analogues, and in all probability the types, -of the crannoges recently discovered in Ireland and Scotland, to which -countries the scattered fragments of that race finally carried this -special form of domestic architecture. The lowest strata of implements -were deposited beneath the sites of these pfaulbauten; and in some of -the more ancient ones the only remains are those of stone, flint, and -pottery—the former resembling in a remarkable manner the stone tools -and weapons of the primitive Irish. - -What the language of this early Helvetian people was, we have no -means of ascertaining; but that their exodus was one of haste and -compulsion, and probably the result of invasion by a superior and more -cultivated race, is almost certain. Driven from their mountain homes, -they passed down the banks of the Rhine and the Elbe, and helped to -people North-western Europe, forming with those who arrived coastwise -the great nation of the Gauls and Belgæ. It is not unlikely that this -littoral wave of population carried with them the metallurgic arts; for -we find in their tombs and barrows on the coasts of Spain, France, and -Brittany, bronze celts identical in shape with some of those discovered -in our own country. - -Still passing westwards towards the setting sun, some members of -this early people stood at length face to face with the white cliffs -of Kent. Impelled by curiosity and the thirst for knowledge, man’s -undeviating enterprise soon sent these hardy people across the narrow -strait that divides Britain from the continent of Europe, centuries -before the ships of Tarshish voyaged from Tyre and Sidon to trade with -Britain for the tin of Cornwall, to alloy, harden, and beautify into -bronze the copper with which Solomon decorated the temple of Jerusalem. - -To the restless Celt the breadth of this new possession was but a -slight impediment to his western progress, and once more he looked upon -the blue waters of the salt sea, and beyond them, to the green hills of -Erin. A plank—a single-piece canoe—formed out of an oak-tree by fire -and a sharp stone, or a wicker curragh covered with hides, would soon -waft him from Portpatrick to Donaghadee, or even from Anglesea to Howth. - -Here, then, the story of our race begins, and the immediate object of -this inquiry commences. That man, as he first stood on this island, -was in a rude, uncultivated state, without a knowledge of letters or -manufactures—skilled in those arts only by which, as a nomad hunter and -fisher, he supported life and ministered to his simple wants—there can -be no manner of doubt. Clad in the skins of animals he slew, which were -sewn together with their sinews or intestines—his weapons and tools -formed of flint, stone, bone, wood or horn—his personal decoration, -shells, amber, attractive pebbles collected on the beach, or the -teeth of animals strung together in a rude necklace, or bound round -the wrists and arms; and his religion, if any, Pagan, Sun-worship, or -Druidism, man first stood, in all probability, on the north-eastern -shores of Erin. It may be unpalatable to our national vanity to -learn that the early colonists of Ireland did not come here clad in -purple and gold direct from Phœnicia, in brazen-prowed triremes, with -the mariner’s compass and the quadrant; or stood for the first time -upon the shores of Hibernia armed _cap-à-pied_ in glittering armour, -as Minerva sprang from the front of Jove; but it is, nevertheless, -indisputably true, that the first people were such as I have described -them. - -No date can be assigned to the period of the first inhabitation, but -as evidence of the primitive condition of the race it is sufficient -to state that human bodies clad in deer-skin have been discovered in -our bogs; that flint weapons in abundance have been found all over -Ireland, but especially in the North, where that peculiar lithological -condition chiefly exists; and that stone tools have been dug up in -thousands all over the country, but more particularly from the beds of -our rivers, marking the sites of contested fords, which were the scenes -of sanguinary conflicts, as on the Shannon and the Bann; and that all -these are referrible to a period when the Irish had no knowledge of -metals, and could neither spin nor weave. - -To Northern archæologists belongs the credit of that theory which -divides the ages of man according to the material evidences of the arts -of bygone times, as into those of stone, of copper, gold, and bronze, -and of iron and silver. While I have no doubt that, generally speaking, -such was the usual progress of development in those particulars, I -deny that this division can, as a rule, be applied to Ireland, where -undoubtedly each period overlapped the succeeding, so as to mix the -one class of implement with another, even as I myself have seen on the -great cultivated plain of Tyre harrow-pins formed of flints and sharp -stones stuck into the under surface of a broad board; and on that -battle field— - - “Where Persia’s victim hordes - First bowed beneath the brunt of Hella’s sword,” - -I have picked up flint and obsidian arrow-heads, although we know that -the Athenians, whose remains still lie beneath the tumulus of Marathon, -gave way before the long-handled metallic spears of Asia; and the stone -missile, in one of its most formidable shapes, is not yet abandoned in -this country. - -I hold it as susceptible of demonstration, that man in similar stages -of his career all over the world acts alike, so far as is compatible -with climate, his wants, and the materials that offer to his hand, -even from the banks of the Niger or Zambesi to the islands of the -South Sea, or the regions inhabited by the Laps and Esquimaux. Thus, -whenever man acquires or discovers a new art, he first applies it to -continue the fashion of its predecessor, until accident, necessity, or -ingenuity induces him to modify the reproduction. The first arrow-head -and spear is almost the same all over the world, and is the type of -that in metal; and the stone celt or hatchet formed, as I have proved -elsewhere, the model for the copper or bronze implement for a like use -in both ancient Etruria and ancient Ireland. - -Discussions may arise as to whether our knowledge of metals was a -separate, independent discovery of our own, or was acquired by -intercourse with other nations more advanced than ourselves. In answer -thereto I can only say that we have no evidence or authority for the -latter supposition; and that, as we possessed abundant materials on -the one hand, and had sufficient native ingenuity on the other, it is -most likely that our discovery of metals—at least of gold, copper, and -tin—was independent of extrinsic influence. So far removed from the -centres of civilization, unconquered by the Roman legion, uninfluenced -by Saxon or Frankish art, and with undoubted evidences of development -and styles of art peculiar to ourselves, both in form and decoration, -it is but fair, until some stronger arguments have been brought -against it, to believe that we were the discoverers and smelters of -our minerals, and the fabricators of our metallic weapons, tools, -and ornaments. That some Grecian influence pervaded the early Irish -metallurgic art, as exhibited by some of our leaf-shaped sword blades, -is true; but it is an exceptional instance, and the form is common to -almost all countries in which bronze sword blades have been found. - -With regard to the dwellings of the early race we are not left to -mere conjecture, for not long ago a log hut was discovered fourteen -feet below the surface of a bog in the county of Donegal. This very -antique dwelling was twelve feet square, and nine high; and consisted -of an upper and lower chamber, which were probably mere sleeping -apartments. The oaken logs of which it was constructed are believed -to have been hewn with stone hatchets, some of which were found on -the premises, thus identifying it with the pre-metallic period of our -history. Man soon becomes gregarious, and passes from the hunter and -the fisher to the shepherd, and thence to the agriculturist. The land -is cleared of wood; the wild animals either die out, or are rendered -subservient to his will. The domestication of animals in most instances -precedes, and always accompanies, the pastoral state of existence; and -to that condition the patriarchal stage ensues, and afterwards that -of the monarchical. To such phases of development, from the age of -escape from the rudest barbarism, to the most cultivated condition in -government, polite literature, art and science, Ireland was, I believe, -no exception. Of the shepherd state we still possess the most abundant -proofs, in the numerous earthen raths, lisses, and forts scattered -all over the country, and from which so many of our townlands and -other localities take their names; but especially marking the sites -of the primitive inhabitation on our goodly pastures, although now -mere grassy, annular elevations, varying in area from a few perches to -several acres, and in many instances alone preserved by the hallowed -traditions or popular superstitions of the people. - -Such of those landmarks of the past as still remain, out of thousands -that have been obliterated, show us that in those parts of Ireland, at -least, where they exist, there was once a dense population, even during -the shepherd stage of its inhabitation. And if in the progress of -events, uncontrolled by human agency, and brought about by influences -that we have so recently mourned over and still deplore, but could -not prevent, we are now again becoming a pastoral people, we are -only returning to that state of existence for which this country is -peculiarly adapted, and was, I believe, originally intended—that of -being the greatest grass and green-crop soil and climate in the world. - -The pastoral was undoubtedly the normal, one of the oldest, and beyond -all question, the longest continued state in Ireland; and, although -changed by internal dissensions, invasion, confiscation, and foreign -rule, is still remembered by the people among whom its influence, -slumbering, but not dead, now and then crops out in questions of -“tenant right.” Years ago I showed, from the animal remains found in -our forts, bogs, and crannoges, that centuries upon centuries before -short-horned improved breeds of cattle and sheep commanded at our -agricultural shows the admiration of Europe, we had here breeds of oxen -which are not now surpassed by the best races of Holland and Great -Britain; and which are unequalled in the present day even by those on -the fertile plains of Meath, Limerick, or Roscommon, or throughout the -golden vale of Tipperary. We were then a cattle-rearing, flesh-eating -people; our wealth was our cattle; our wars were for our cattle; the -ransom of our chieftains was in cattle; our taxes were paid in cattle; -the price paid for our most valuable manuscripts was so many cows. -Even in comparatively modern times our battle cloaks were made of -leather; our traffic and barter were the Pecuaniæ of our country; and -the “Tain-bo-Cuailne,” the most famous metrical romance of Europe, -after the “Niebelungenlied,” is but the recital of a cattle raid from -Connaught into Louth during the reign of Mave, Queen of Connaught—a -personage transmitted to us by Shakspeare, as the Queen Mab of the -“Midsummer Night’s Dream.” And, although the Anglo-Norman invasion is -usually attributed to the love of an old, one-eyed, hoarse-voiced King -of Leinster, sixty years of age, for Dervorgil (attractive, we must -presume, though but little his junior in years), and who became the -Helen of the Irish Iliad, when “the valley lay smiling before her,” she -was but an insignificant item in the stock abduction from the plains of -Breffny along the boggy slopes of Shemore. - -The Boromean, or cattle tribute, which the King of Tara demanded from -the Leinstermen, was perhaps the cause of the greatest intestinal feud -which ever convulsed so small a space of European ground for so great -a length of time. This triennial cattle tax, besides 5,000 ounces of -silver, 5,000 cloaks, and 5,000 brazen vessels, consisted of 15,000 -head of cattle of different descriptions, the value of which, at the -present price of stock, would amount to about £130,000. The cattle -tribute also paid to the Prince or petty King of Cashel upwards of a -thousand years ago was 6,500 cows, 4,500 oxen, 4,500 swine, and 1,200 -sheep; in all, 16,700, or, at the present value of stock, between -£80,000 and £100,000. In addition to which we read of horses and -valuables of various descriptions. - -Brian O’Kennedy, who drove the Norsemen from the shores of Clontarf, -derived his cognomen of Borrome from his reimposition of this cattle -tax. And in the _Leabhar-na-Garth_, or ancient Book of Rights and -Privileges of the Kings of Erin, the cattle statistics, as they are -there set forth, show that the Irish were solely a pastoral people; and -the whole text and tenor of the Irish annals and histories, and the -notices of the wars of the Desmonds and of O’Neil, confirm this view. - -The great raths of Ireland, where the people enclosed their cattle -by night, have been erroneously termed “Danish forts,” but when the -shannaghees are pressed for further information as to the date of their -erection they say, “They were made by them ould Danes that came over -with Julius Cæsar.” If, however, inquiry be made of the old illiterate -Irish-speaking population, they will tell you that they were made -by “the good people,” and are inhabited by the fairies. Hence the -veneration that has in a great measure tended to their preservation; -and I have no doubt that the ancient indigenous and venerated thorns -that still decorate their slopes or summits are the veritable -descendants of the quickset hedges that helped to form the breastworks, -or staked defences, on their summits. - -These forts are almost invariably to be found in the fattest pastures; -so that if any of my friends were in the present day to ask me -where they could best invest in land, I would fearlessly answer, -“Wherever you find most ancient raths remaining;” and I know that -many of our cattle prizes have been carried off by sheep and oxen fed -upon the grass lands cleared and fertilized by the early Celts more -than a thousand years ago, and a sod of which has not been turned -for centuries. They were not originally the gentle slopes that now -diversify the surface, but consisted in steep ramparts or earthworks, -with an external ditch, on which a stout paling was erected against -man or beast, a form of structure still seen in the kraal of the New -Zealander. The Irish rath-maker was an artificer of skill, and held -in high esteem, and occupied a dignified position at the great feasts -of Tara—second only to the ollamh and the physician. That the soil of -which they were constructed had been not only originally rich, but had -been subjected to man’s industry, is proved by the fact that it is -now frequently turned out upon the neighbouring sward as one of the -best of manures. Within these raths, some of which had double, and -even treble entrenchments, were erected the dwellings of the people -and their chiefs, the latter of whom were often interred within the -mounds, or beneath the cromlechs that still exist in their interior, -as, for example, in the “Giant’s Ring,” near Belfast. In some instances -they also contained in their sides and centres stone caves, that were -probably used as store-houses, granaries, or places of security. - -The earliest historic race of Ireland was a pastoral people called -Firbolgs, said to be of Greek or Eastern origin; probably a branch of -that great Celtic race which, having passed through Europe and round -its shores, found a resting-place at last in Ireland. Of the Fomorians, -Nemedians, and other minor invaders, we need not speak, as they have -left nothing by which to track their footsteps. The old annalists -bring them direct from the Ark, and in a straight line from Japhet. -The coming of Pharaoh’s daughter from Egypt with her ships may be also -considered apocryphal. But the Firbolgs begin our authentic history. -They had laws and social institutions, and established a monarchical -government at the far-famed Hill of Tara, about which our early centres -of civilization sprung, and where we have now most of those great -pasturelands—those plains of Meath that can beat the world for their -fattening qualities, and which supply neighbouring countries with their -most admired meats. - -I cannot say that the Firbolg was a cultivated man, but I think he was -a shepherd and an agriculturist. I doubt if he knew anything, certainly -not much, of metallurgy; but it does not follow that he was a mere -savage, no more than the Maories of New Zealand were when we first came -in contact with them. - -The Firbolgs were a small, straight-haired, swarthy race, who have -left a portion of their descendants with us to this very day. A -genealogist (their own countryman resident in Galway about two hundred -years ago) described them as dark-haired, talkative, guileful, -strolling, unsteady, “disturbers of every Council and Assembly,” and -“promoters of discord.” I believe they, together with the next two -races about to be described, formed the bulk of our so-called Celtic -population—combative, nomadic on opportunity, enduring, litigious, -but feudal and faithful to their chiefs; hard-working for a spurt (as -in their annual English emigration); not thrifty, but, when their -immediate wants are supplied, lazy, especially during the winter. - -To these physical and mental characters described by MacFirbis let me -add those of the unusual combination of blue or blue-grey eyes and -dark eyelashes with a swarthy complexion. This peculiarity I have -only remarked elsewhere in Greece; the mouth and upper gum is not -good, but the nose is usually straight. In many of this and the next -following race there was a peculiarity that has not been alluded to by -writers—the larynx, or, as it used to be called, the _pomum Adami_, -was remarkably prominent, and became more apparent from the uncovered -state of the neck. The sediment of this early people still exists in -Ireland, along with the fair-complexioned Dananns, and forms the bulk -of the farm-labourers, called in popular phraseology _Spalpeens_, that -yearly emigrate to England. In Connaught they now chiefly occupy a -circle which includes the junction of the counties of Mayo, Galway, -Roscommon, and Sligo. They, with their fair-faced brothers (at present -the most numerous), are also to be found in Kerry and Donegal; and they -nearly all speak Irish. - -By statistics procured from our Great Midland Western Railway alone -I learn that on an average 30,000 of these people, chiefly the -descendants of the dark Firbolgs and the fair Dananns, emigrate -annually to England for harvest work, to the great advantage of the -English farmer and the Irish landlord. The acreage of arable land for -these people runs from two to six acres. - -Connecting this race with the remains of the past, I am of opinion -that they were the first rath or earthen-mound and enclosure makers; -that they mostly buried their dead without cremation, and, in cases of -distinguished personages, beneath the cromlech or the tumulus. Their -heads were oval or long in the anteroposterior diameter, and rather -flattened at the sides: examples of these I have given and descanted -upon when I first published my Ethnological Researches, which have -been fully confirmed by the late Andreas Retzius. It is, however, -unnecessary, even if space or advisability permitted, for me to allude -to such matters, as that great work the “Crania Britannica” has -lithographed typical specimens of this long-headed race. - -The next immigration we hear of in the “Annals” is that of the -_Tuatha-de-Dananns_, a large, fair-complexioned, and very remarkable -race; warlike, energetic, progressive, skilled in metal work, musical, -poetical, acquainted with the healing art, skilled in Druidism, and -believed to be adepts in necromancy and magic, no doubt the result of -the popular idea respecting their superior knowledge, especially in -smelting and in the fabrication of tools, weapons, and ornaments. From -these two races sprang the Fairy Mythology of Ireland. - -It is strange that, considering the amount of annals and legends -transmitted to us, we have so little knowledge of Druidism or Paganism -in ancient Ireland. However, it may be accounted for in this wise: -That those who took down the legends from the mouths of the bards and -annalists, or those who subsequently transcribed them, were Christian -missionaries whose object was to obliterate every vestige of the -ancient forms of faith. - -The Dananns spoke the same language as their predecessors, the -Firbolgs. They met and fought for the sovereignty. The “man of metal” -conquered and drove a great part of the others into the islands on -the coast, where it is said the Firbolg race took their last stand. -Eventually, however, under the influence of a power hostile to them -both, these two people coalesced, and have to a large extent done so -up to the present day. They are the true old Irish peasant and small -farming class. - -The Firbolg was a bagman, so called, according to Irish authorities, -because he had to carry up clay in earthen bags to those terraces -in Greece now vine-clad. As regards the other race there is more -difficulty in the name. Tuath or Tuatha means a tribe or tribe-district -in Irish. Danann certainly sounds very Grecian; and if we consider -their remains, we find the long, bronze, leaf-shaped sword, so abundant -in Ireland, identical with weapons of the same class found in Attica -and other parts of Greece. - -Then, on the other hand, their physiognomy, their fair or reddish hair, -their size, and other circumstances, incline one to believe that they -came down from Scandinavian regions after they had passed up as far -as they thought advisable into North-western Europe. If the word Dane -was known at the time of their arrival here, it would account for the -designation of many of our Irish monuments as applied by Molyneux and -others. Undoubtedly the Danann tribes presented Scandinavian features, -but did not bring anything but Grecian art. After the “Stone period,” -so called, of which Denmark and the south of Sweden offer such rich -remains, I look upon the great bulk of the metal work of the North, -especially in the swords in the Copenhagen and Stockholm Museums, as -Asiatic; while Ireland possesses not only the largest native collection -of metal weapon-tools, usually denominated “celts,” of any country in -the world, but the second largest amount of swords and battle-axes. And -moreover these, and all our other metal articles, show a well-defined -rise and development from the simplest and rudest form in size and use -to that of the most elaborately constructed and the most beautifully -adorned. - -I believe that these Tuatha-de-Dananns, no matter from whence they -came, were, in addition to their other acquirements, great masons, -although not acquainted with the value of cementing materials. I think -they were the builders of the great stone Cahirs, Duns, Cashels, and -Caves in Ireland; while their predecessors constructed the earthen -works, the raths, circles, and forts that diversify the fields of Erin. -The Dananns anticipated Shakespeare’s grave-digger, for they certainly -made the most lasting sepulchral monuments that exist in Ireland, such, -for example, as New Grange, Douth, Knowth, and Slieve-na-Calleagh and -other great cemeteries. Within the interior and around these tombs were -carved, on unhewn stones, certain archaic markings, spires, volutes, -convolutes, lozenge-shaped devices, straight, zigzag, and curved -lines, and incised indentations, and a variety of other insignia, -which, although not expressing language, were symbolical, and had an -occult meaning known only to the initiated. These markings, as well as -those upon the urns, were copied in the decorations of the gold and -bronze work of a somewhat subsequent period. The Dananns conquered -the inferior tribes in two celebrated pitched battles, those of the -Northern and Southern Moytura. On these fields we still find the caves, -the stone circles, the monoliths, and dolmans or cromlechs that marked -particular events, and the immense cairns that were raised in honour of -the fallen chieftains. - -Although many of the warriors of the Firbolgs fled to their island -fastnesses on the coasts of Galway and Donegal, no doubt a large -portion of them remained in the inland parts of the country, and in -that very locality to which I have adverted, which is almost midway -between the sites of the two battles, in a line stretching between Mayo -and Sligo, where in time the two races appear to have coalesced by that -natural law which brings the dark and the fair together. - -Moreover it has been recorded that the conquering race sent their -small dark opponents into Connaught, while they themselves took -possession of the rich lands further east, and not only established -themselves at Tara but spread into the south. It is remarkable that -in time large numbers of the Dananns themselves were banished to the -West, and likewise that the last forcible deportation of the native -Irish race (so late as the seventeenth century) was when the people of -this province got the choice of going “to Connaught or Hell,” in the -former of which, possibly, they joined some of the original stock. The -natural beauty of the lakes and mountains of Connaught remains as it -was thousands of years ago; but no doubt if some of the legislators of -the period to which I have already referred could now behold its fat -pasture-plains, they might prefer them to the flax lands of Ulster. - -These Dananns had a globular form of head, of which I have already -published examples. For the most part I believe they burned their dead -or sacrificed to their manes, and placed an urn with its incinerated -contents—human or animal—in the grave, where the hero was either -stretched at length or crouched in an attitude similar to that adopted -by the ancient Peruvians, as I have elsewhere explained. These Irish -urns, which are the earliest relics of our ceramic art that have come -down to the present time, are very graceful in form, and some of them -most beautifully decorated, as may be seen in our various museums. - -Specimens of this Danann race still exist, but have gradually mixed -with their forerunners to the present day. Here is what old MacFirbis -wrote of them two hundred years ago: “Every one who is fair-haired, -vengeful, large, and every plunderer, professors of musical and -entertaining performances, who are adepts of Druidical and magical -arts, they are the descendants of the Tuatha-de-Dananns.” They were not -only fair but sandy in many instances, and consequently extensively -freckled. - -It is affirmed that the Dananns ruled in Ireland for a long time, until -another inroad was made into the island by the Milesians—said to be -brave, chivalrous, skilled in war, good navigators, proud, boastful, -and much superior in outward adornment as well as mental culture, -but probably not better armed than their opponents. They deposed the -three last Danann kings and their wives, and rose to be, it is said, -the dominant race—assuming the sovereignty, becoming the aristocracy -and landed proprietors of the country, and giving origin to those -chieftains that afterwards rose to the title of petty kings, and from -whom some of the best families in the land with anything like Irish -names claim descent, and particularly those with the prefix of the “O” -or the “Mac.” When this race arrived in Ireland I cannot tell, but it -was some time prior to the Christian era. It is said they came from -the coast of Spain, where they had long remained after their Eastern -emigration. - -Upon the site of what is believed to be the ancient Brigantium, now the -entrance to the united harbours of Corunna and Ferrol, stands the great -lighthouse known to all ships passing through the Bay of Biscay. Within -this modern structure still exists the celebrated “Pharos of Hercules,” -which I investigated and described many years ago. That tower, it -was said in metaphorical language, commanded a view of Ireland, and -as such became the theme of Irish poems and legends. Certain it is -that sailing north or north-westward from it the ships of the sons of -Milesius and their followers could have reached Ireland without much -coasting. If the story of Breogan’s Tower is true, then it must have -been erected in the time of lime-and-mortar building, and that is -during the Roman occupation of Iberia and Gaul. How many thousands, -rank and file, of these Spanish Milesians came here in their six or -eight galleys and tried the fortunes of war from “the summit of the -ninth wave from the shore” and conquered the entire Danann, Firbolg, -and Fomorian population, I am unable to give the slightest inkling of, -no more than I can of the so-called Phœnician intercourse with this -country. Perhaps without going into the fanciful descriptions of the -“Battle of Ventry Harbour,” or the southern conquest of Ireland by the -Iberian Milesians, we may find some more trustworthy illustrations -of Spanish dwellings in the architecture of the town of Galway, and -some picturesque representatives in the lithe upright figures and -raven-haired, but blue-eyed maidens of the City of the Tribes. Here is -what old MacFirbis, who, I suppose, claimed descent from the sons of -Milesius, wrote about them: “Every one who is white of skin, brown of -hair, bold, honourable, daring, prosperous, bountiful in the bestowal -of property, and who is not afraid of battle or combat, they are the -descendants of the sons of Milesius in Erin.” - -This high panegyric is only equalled by the prose and verse -compositions of the ancient bards and rhymers and the modern -historians, who have recorded the deeds of the great warriors, Ith, -Heber, and Heremon, whose descendants boast to have been the rulers -of the land. Even Moore, although he wrote such beautiful lyrics -concerning this race in his early days, yet when he came to study -history, he felt the same difficulty I do now. I do not dispute their -origin or supremacy; but I fail to distinguish their early customs, -their remains, or race from those of the Firbolgs or Dananns whom they -conquered, and who left undoubted monuments peculiar to their time. - -Now all these people—the piratical navigator along our coasts, the -mid-Europe primitive shepherd and cultivator, the Northern warrior, and -the Iberian ruler—were, according to my view, all derived from the one -Celtic stock. They spoke the same language, and their descendants do -so still. When they acquired a knowledge of letters they transmitted -their history through the Irish language. No doubt they fused; but -somehow a quick fusion of races has not been the general characteristic -of the people of this country. Unlike the Anglo-Norman in later times, -the Milesian was a long way from home; the rough sea of the Bay of -Biscay rolled between him and his previous habitat; and if he became -an absentee he was not likely to find much of his possessions on his -return. It is to be regretted that while we have here such a quantity -of poetical and traditional material respecting the Milesian invasion -of Ireland, the Spanish annals or traditions have given us but very -little information on that subject. - -It would be most desirable if the Government or some Irish authority -would send a properly instructed commissioner to investigate the -Spanish annals, and see whether there is anything relating to the -Spanish migrations to Ireland remaining in that country. - -Besides the sparse introduction of Latin by Christian missionaries in -the fifth century, some occasional Saxon words springing from peaceful -settlers along our coasts and in commercial emporiums, and whatever -Danish had crept into our tongue around those centres where the -Scandinavians chiefly located themselves, and which were principally -proper names of persons and places that became fixed in our vernacular, -we find but one language among the Irish people until the arrival of -the Anglo-Normans at the end of the twelfth century. - -The linguistic or philological evidence on this subject is clearly -decisive. The residue of the early races already described spoke one -language, called Gaelic; so did the Scotch, the Welsh, and probably, in -early times, the Britons and the Bretons. It was not only the popular -conversational tongue used in the ordinary intercourse of life, but -it was also employed in genealogies, annals, and other records in a -special character, not quite peculiar to this country, but then common -in Europe. Much has been said about the necessity for a glossary of our -ancient MSS., such as those at Saint Gall, in Trinity College, in the -Royal Irish Academy, and in Belgian and English libraries; but there -are very few ancient languages that do not require to be glossed in the -present day, even as the words of Chaucer do. - -The Government are now, under the auspices of our Master of the Rolls, -and the special direction and supervision of Mr. J. T. Gilbert, giving -coloured photographs of some of our ancient writings, and have promised -that some of our remaining manuscripts will be translated. I see no -occasion now for waiting for more elaborated philological dictionaries -or glossaries while there are still some few Irish scholars in this -country capable of giving a free but tolerably literal translation -of these records that do not require any great acumen in rendering -them into English. Is history to wait upon the final decision of -philologists respecting a word or two in a manuscript, and to decide as -to whether it may be of Sanscrit or any other origin? - -No doubt some of my hearers may ask, What about the Oghams (or Ohams)? -do they not show a very early knowledge of an alphabet? As yet this -is a moot question. A rude pillar-stone, having upon it a tolerably -straight edge, was in early times notched along its angle which served -as a stem-line by nicks formed on it, and straight or oblique lines, -singly or in clusters, proceeding from the stem. The decipherers of -these inscriptions have, one and all, agreed upon the fact that these -lines represented letters, syllables, or words, and that the language -is either Irish or Latin. Therefore the persons who made them must have -been aware of alphabetic writing and grammar. These carved monoliths -are chiefly found in Kerry and Cork. Upon some of them Christian -emblems are figured. The incising of the stone has evidently been -performed by some rude instrument, either a flint or metallic pick; -and it is remarkable that these pillars present scarcely any amount of -dressing. - -In Connaught, in my youth, the exception in remote districts was where -the person spoke _both_ English and Irish. In 1851, when we first took -a census of the Irish-speaking population, after the country had lost -three-quarters of a million of people, chiefly of the Irish race, -we had then (to speak in round numbers) one and a half millions of -Irish-speaking population. In 1861 they had fallen off by nearly half -a million; and upon the taking of the last census in 1871 the entire -Irish-speaking population was only 817,865. The percentages, according -to the total population in our different provinces, were these: in -Leinster 1.2, in Munster 27.7, in Ulster 4.6, and in Connaught 39.0; -for the total of Ireland 15.1. Kilkenny and Louth are the counties -of Leinster where the language is most spoken. In Munster they are -Kerry, Clare, and Waterford; in Ulster, Donegal, where 28 per cent. of -the population speak Irish; but in Connaught, to which I have already -alluded as containing the remnant of the early Irish races, we have no -less than 56 per cent. of Irish-speaking population in the counties of -Mayo and Galway respectively. Of my own knowledge I can attest that a -great many of these people cannot speak English. We thus see that of -the population of Ireland, which in the present day might be computed -at about five and a half millions, there were, at the time of taking -the census in April, 1871, only 817,865; and I think I may prophesy -that that is the very largest number that in future we will ever have -to record. On the causes of this decadence it is not my province to -descant. These Celts have been the great pioneers of civilization, and -are now a power in the world. Are they not now numerically the dominant -race in America? and have they not largely peopled Australia and New -Zealand? - -We have now arrived at a period when you might naturally expect the -native annalist to make some allusion to conquest or colonization by -the then mistress of the world. Without offering any reason for it, -I have here only to remark that neither as warriors nor colonizers -did the Romans ever set foot in Ireland; and hence the paucity of any -admixture of Roman art amongst us. - -To fill up a hiatus which might here occur in our migrations, I will -mention a remarkable circumstance. A Christian youth of Romano-Saxon -parentage, and probably of patrician origin, was carried off in a raid -of Irish marauders, and employed as a swineherd in this very Ulster, -the country of the Dalaradians, and lived here for several years, -learning our customs and speaking our language. He escaped, however, -to Munster, and thence to his native land of Britain or Normandy, from -whence he returned in A.D. 432 with friends, allies, and missionaries, -and passing in his galley into the mouth of the Boyne, walked up the -banks of that famed stream, raised the paschal fire at Slane, and -speedily introduced Christianity throughout Ireland. - -In thus briefly alluding to the labours of St. Patrick, I wish to be -understood to say that about the time of his mission there was much -Saxon intercourse with this country, and the great missionary had not -only many friends but several relatives residing here, and some of -them on the very banks of the Boyne; and I believe that a considerable -amount of civilization and some knowledge of Christianity had been -introduced long previously; so that, although old King Laoghaire -or Loury and his Druids did not bow the knee to the Most High God, -nor accept the teaching of the beautiful hymn that Patrick and his -attendants chanted as they passed up the grassy slopes of Tara, still -there were many hundred people in Ireland ready to receive the glad -tidings of the gospel of salvation. - -Having finished with the Milesians, we now come to the Danes -(so-called), the Scandinavians or Norsemen—the pagan Sea-Kings who -made inroads on our coasts, despoiled our churches and monasteries, -but at the same time, it must be confessed, helped to establish the -commercial prosperity of some of our cities and towns from 795 to the -time of the battle of Clontarf, A.D. 1014, when the belligerent portion -of the Scandinavians were finally expelled the country. During the time -I have specified, Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford belonged to these -Northern people. They not only coasted round the island and never lost -an opportunity of pillage and plunder, but they passed through the -interior and carried their arms into the very centre of the land. The -Danes left us very little ornamental work beyond what they lavished -upon their swords and helmets; but, on the other hand, it should be -borne in mind that there are no Irish antiquities, either social, -warlike, or ecclesiastical, in the Scandinavian Museums. - -Concerning their ethnological characters, I must again refer to the -“Crania Britannica.” In the records they were designated strangers, -foreigners, pagans, gentiles, and also white and black foreigners, so -that there were undoubtedly two races—the dark, and the fair or red, -like as in the case of the Firbolgs or Dananns. They were also styled -“Azure Danes,” probably on account of the shining hue of their armour. - -I believe the fair section of that people to have been of Norwegian -origin, while the dark race came from Jutland and the coast of Sweden; -and both by the Orkneys, the coasts of Scotland, and the Isle of Man. -Their skulls were large and well formed; they had a thorough knowledge -of metal work, and especially iron; and, as I have shown elsewhere, -their swords and spears were of great size and power, the former -wielded as a slashing weapon, while those of their early opponents were -of bronze, weak, and intended for stabbing. In nowhere else in Europe -(that I am aware of) have these rounded, pointed, or bevelled heavy -iron swords been found except in Ireland and Norway. - -Large quantities of Danish remains have been discovered in deep -sinkings made in Dublin; and several weapons, tools, and ornaments, -believed to be of Scandinavian origin, have been found within a -few inches of the surface on one of the battle-fields on the south -side of the Liffey, within the last few years. Upon most of these -I have already reported and given illustrations. I may mention one -circumstance connected with this race. I never examined a battle-field -of the Danes, nor a collection of Danish weapons or implements, that I -did not find the well-adjusted scales and weights which the Viking had -in his pocket for valuing the precious metals he procured either by -conquest or otherwise. - -Although considered hostile, these Scandinavian Vikings must have -fraternized with the Irish. We know that they intermarried; for, among -many other instances that might be adduced, I may mention that during -the battle of Clontarf, when Sitric, the Danish king of Dublin, looked -on the fight from the walls of the city, he was accompanied by his -wife, the daughter of the aged king known as “Brian the Brave.” - -When, however, the Irish chieftains were not fighting with one another, -they were often engaged in petty wars with the Scandinavians, who, in -turn, were attacked by their own countrymen, the “Black Gentiles,” -especially on the plain of Fingall, stretching from Dublin to the -Boyne, and which the white race chiefly occupied. It must not be -supposed that the battle of Clontarf ended the Danish occupation of -Ireland; they still held the cities of Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford -at least, and largely promoted the commercial prosperity in these -localities—a prosperity which has not quite yet departed. I should -like to present you with some remains of the Scandinavian language in -Ireland, but the materials are very scanty. - -We are now coming to a later period. The Romans had occupied Britain, -the Saxons followed; the Danes had partial possession for a time; the -Heptarchy prevailed until Harold, the last of the Saxon kings, fell at -Hastings, and England bowed beneath that mixture of Norman, Gaulish, -Scandinavian, and general Celtic blood that William brought with him -from the shores of France. The Saxon dynasty was at an end, but the -Britons of the day accepted their fate; and not only the soldiers, but -the Norman barons fused with the people of that kingdom, and largely -contributed to make it what it now is. This fusion of races, this -assimilation of sentiments, this interchange of thought, this kindly -culture, the higher elevating the lower, among whom they permanently -reside, must always tend to great and good ends in raising a people to -a nobler intellectual state. - -The Anglo-Normans came here in 1172, a very mixed race, but their -leaders were chiefly of French or Norman extraction. Why they came, or -what they did, it is not for me to expatiate upon. I wish, however, -to correct an assertion commonly made, to the effect that the Norman -barons of Henry II. _then_ conquered Ireland. They occupied some towns, -formed a “Pale,” levied taxes, sent in soldiery, distributed lands, -and introduced a new language; but the “King’s writ did not run;” the -subjugation of Ireland did not extend over the country at large, and -it remained till 1846 and the five or six following years to complete -the conquest of the Irish race, by the loss of a tuberous esculent -and the Governmental alteration in the value of a grain of corn. Then -there went to the workhouse or exile upwards of two millions of the -Irish race, besides those who died of pestilence. Having carefully -investigated and reported upon this last great European famine, I have -come to the conclusion just stated, without taking into consideration -its political, religious, or national aspects. - -It appears to me that one of our great difficulties in Ireland has been -the want of fusion—not only of races, but of opinions and sentiments, -in what may be called a “give and take” system. As regards the -intermixture, I think there cannot be a better one than the Saxon with -the Celt. The Anglo-Normans, however, partially fused with the native -Irish; for Strongbow married Eva the daughter of King Dermot; and from -this marriage it has been clearly shown that Her Most Gracious Majesty -the present Queen of Ireland and Great Britain is lineally descended. -Several of the noble warriors who came over about that period have -established great and widespread names in Ireland, among whom I may -mention the Geraldines in Leinster, the De Burgos in Connaught, and the -Butlers in Munster; and they and their descendants became, according to -the old Latin adage, “more Irish than the Irish themselves.” - -Look what the intermixture of races has done for us in Ireland; the -Firbolg brought us agriculture; the Danann the chemistry and mechanics -of metal work; the Milesians beauty and governing power; the Danes -commerce and navigation; the Anglo-Normans chivalry and organized -government; and, in later times, the French emigrants taught us an -improved art of weaving. - -It would be more political than ethnological were I to enter upon the -discussion of that subsequent period which would conduct us to the days -of Cromwell or the Boyne, or, perhaps, to later periods, involving -questions not pertinent to the present subject. - -But I must here say a word or two respecting Irish art. In -architecture, in decorative tone-work, from archaic markings that gave -a tone and character to all subsequent art, in our beauteous crosses, -in our early metal work, in gold and bronze, carried on from the pagan -to the Christian period, and in our gorgeously illuminated MS. books, -we have got a style of art that is specially and peculiarly Irish, and -that has no exact parallel elsewhere, and was only slightly modified by -Norman or Frankish design. - -Time passed, and events accumulated; political affairs intermingle, -but the anthropologist should try and keep clear of them. At the end -of the reign of Elizabeth a considerable immigration of English took -place into the South of Ireland. Subsequently the historic episode -of the “Flight of the Earls,” O’Neil and O’Donnell, brought matters -to a climax; and the early part of the reign of the first James is -memorable for the “Plantation of Ulster,” when a number of Celtic -Scots with some Saxons returned to their brethren across the water; -and about the same time the London companies occupied large portions -of this fertile province, and the early Irish race were transplanted -by the Protector to the West, as I have already stated. It must not be -imagined that this was the first immigration. The Picts passed through -Ireland, and no doubt left a remnant behind them. And in consequence -of contiguity, the Scottish people must early have settled upon our -northern coasts. When the adventurous Edward Bruce made that marvellous -inroad into Ireland at the end of the fourteenth century and advanced -into the bowels of the land, he carried with him a Gaelic population -cognate with our own people, and in all probability left a residue in -Ulster, thus leavening the original Firbolgs, Tuatha-de-Danann, and -Milesians, with the exception of the county of Donegal, which still -holds a large Celtic population speaking the old Irish tongue, and -retaining the special characters of that people as I have already -described them. This Scotic race, as it now exists in Ulster, and -of which we have specimens before us, I would sum up with three -characteristics. That they were courageous is proved by their shutting -the gates and defending the walls of Derry; that they were independent -and lovers of justice has been shown by their establishment of tenant -right; and that they were industrious and energetic is manifest by the -manufacturers of Belfast. Do not, I entreat my brethren of Ulster, -allow these manufactures to be jeopardized, either by masters or men, -by any disagreements, which must lead to the decay of the fairest and -wealthiest province and one of the most beautiful cities in this our -native land. - - - _Printed in Great Britain by_ Butler & Tanner _Frome and London_. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Ancient legends, Mystic Charms & -Superstitions of Ireland, by Jane Francesca Agnes Wilde - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ANCIENT LEGENDS, CHARMS, OF IRELAND *** - -***** This file should be named 61436-0.txt or 61436-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/4/3/61436/ - -Produced by MWS, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from images made available by the HathiTrust -Digital Library.) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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